Final Fantasy 7: Requiem
by Blaze163
Summary: Four years after Meteorfall, the world is finally at peace. Cloud and Tifa enjoy their new life in Costa Del Sol. But hiding in the shadows is one final challenge. Rated M for violence and adult content in later chapters. Reuploaded 'cause I messed up.
1. Chapter 1

Final Fantasy 7

Requiem.

Final Version.

Prologue.

Flowing through the boundaries between life and death, the Lifestream coursed though the planet, full of memory and potential, the river of life penetrating every atom of being. The bright wisps of energy bringing the spark of new existence to every corner of the world, powered by the eternal memories of all who came before.

Within the very core of the Lifestream, she listened intently. The last of the Ancients. The voice of the planet a mere buzzing in her ears, full of fear and darkness, almost childlike. There were no details, only emotion. She could make no sense of it all. She tried to focus, closing her eyes to listen closely, hoping to garner some more information.

It had never been like this before. Never such fear that the planet itself was frozen in terror. What could a planet fear? She spoke calmly, trying to soothe this nameless fear, but to no avail. All the Lifestream rippled with emotion, the memories of countless lives cowering together.

A bright red spark of energy flashed by her eyes and she was thrown back to her senses. The whispers in her ears reached a deafening crescendo of cold dread as the spark flew out of sight, hurtling towards the gateway to the living world. A shiver crept up her spine, and suddenly she understood.

Something must be done.

Chapter One

His eyes burned as the first light of dawn burst through the paper thin curtains, tearing away the veil of night to reveal the new day. The sudden flash of light stirred him into motion, waking him from peaceful sleep as his eyes opened very slowly, gradually becoming accustomed to the blazing sun. Rubbing the last fragments of sleep from his eyes, he rolled out of bed, drawing his dressing gown around him.

With a yawn, Cloud drew the curtains apart to marvel at the glorious sight of sunrise across the bay, the calm sea aglow in the light of the morning. Birds began to chirp outside his window as the whole town sprang to life, ready to face another day. He stood and watched the sun rise, admiring the myriad of colours in the distant clouds, listening to the waves breaking gently across the rocks on the beach below, thinking about how far he had come to get to this point, thankful that he could face the day without fear of yet another battle.

It was almost a year since he had come here to Costa Del Sol. He had been out on a delivery when an estate agent had called asking for him, explaining that an offer had been put in for his villa here. Cloud had been perplexed at first. He had purchased the villa for a colossal three hundred thousand gil during the events of what had now become known as Meteorfall four years ago, then promptly forgotten about it during the fighting. He had grown weary of his life as a delivery boy. It seemed a little tame after saving the world. He had decided that it was time for a permanent vacation, and had asked Tifa and Denzel to come with him. It hadn't taken long to convince Tifa to leave the hustle and bustle of city life. In fact she had almost finished packing by the time he had pulled up on his black motorcycle Fenrir not half an hour later.

It had taken some getting used to in the first few months. After their lives of constant action and danger, peaceful life on the beach was a whole new idea for them all. Tifa had struggled to let go of running the bar, Seventh Heaven, and had once been found compulsively cleaning the glasses in the kitchen. Finding ways to occupy their time had been a challenge at the start. Tifa had taken a position at the local school teaching the younger students, and spent much of her free time running a lot of the after school clubs or offering a helping hand in the nursery. Cloud had continued to run his delivery business for a while, but he grew tired of being on the road for so long away from his new home and decided to put an end to the business. He spent most of his time helping people out around town with whatever they required. The random nature of his new line of work kept him on his toes. One week he had been helping to repair the roof of the local bar, and the next he had been helping deal with a nest of fiends discovered in the local hills. He thought back to Zack's idea of becoming a mercenary, and chuckled lightly to himself, realising that was exactly what he had become.

The local people had been very friendly towards them, recognising that they had come here to escape the pressures of being world renowned heroes. Most simply left Cloud and Tifa alone, allowing them some peace and quiet. Not everybody had been so considerate in the early months and eventually Tifa had lost her temper at a group of tourists who refused to leave her in peace. Everybody had been very understanding and nobody mentioned the event any more. The only adverse effect Cloud had suffered was much of the town nicknaming him 'Spiky' after Barret had visited with Marlene and shouted out his old nickname at every opportunity.

Cloud checked his watch and saw that it was about time to start the business of the day, stunned by how long he had been stood staring out of the window, lost in his thoughts. He looked back towards his bed and allowed himself a smile. Tifa looked like an angel, sleeping so peacefully. Her head rested gently on her arm, her blanket drawn up around her shoulders, her smile revealing the peaceful nature of her dreams. He almost didn't want to wake her, but if he didn't she would stay this way long into the afternoon. He could already hear Denzel getting ready for school downstairs.

Cloud reached down and gently shook Tifa's shoulder, trying in vain to wake her up. She simply groaned and rolled over, going back to sleep instantly. He tried again and she rolled back over to face him, struggling to open her eyes. The sunlight caught her as she struggled to focus and her eyes slammed shut again as she rolled over onto her front to escape the burning rays. He moved between her and the window and shook her a little harder. She turned to face him, slowly waking up now that he was blocking out the blazing sunlight. She smiled up at him as their eyes met.

"Good morning." he said softly, smiling back at her. "Time to get up. Work to do."

She groaned and tried to roll back over. "I'm ill. Need more sleep."

He shook his head a little. It struck him as rather odd that she was this hard to wake up in the mornings when she had spent most of her life running around and being physically active. Perhaps the years of conflict had finally taken their toll. Or perhaps she had always been secretly lazy. Perhaps he would never know.

"Tell you what. If you get up now, I'll take care of breakfast. What can I get for you?"

Tifa rolled back over to look up at him again. She gave him a puzzled look. Cloud didn't cook very often, it nearly always went wrong, since he had never cooked much as a child. But when it went right, it went very right indeed. And he did have some sort of lucky streak when it came to making breakfast.

"Bacon and eggs and you've got a deal.' She murmured, still struggling to find the strength to wake up properly. Cloud decided that was about the best he could expect from her this early in the morning and wandered off in the direction of the kitchen. She was best left to wake up on her own. He could always come back and check on her if she was taking too long.

Denzel was already sat at the table when Cloud came downstairs. He had already been up for a while, taken a shower and was ready for school. Cloud was proud of Denzel for taking care of himself in the mornings with no reminders. He waved as Cloud ambled down the stairs, and then got back to the book he was reading for his school project. Cloud looked over and saw that he was only about half way through the book, hoping to himself that the project wasn't due in today.

Tifa came down about twenty minutes later, still trying to dry her hip length black hair after her shower, tiny droplets of water dripping onto her white blouse and skirt. She smiled as she saw Cloud dishing up her breakfast, glad to see that he had managed to keep it from burning again. She sat down next to Denzel and Cloud passed the food around. It didn't escape anybody's notice that he had given himself an extra slice of bacon, as was his custom when he managed to keep his culinary experiments edible.

"I have your class this morning, right Denzel?" asked Tifa through a mouthful of scrambled egg.

"Yeah, sports class. What are we gonna be doing today?" said Denzel, finishing off his bacon.

"I'm not too sure. I was thinking we could have a game of football since it's such a beautiful day out there. Everybody loves football.'

Denzel nodded in agreement. He had always been a football fan and had developed something of an aptitude for the game. He often spent his free time on the beach kicking a ball about with his friends. He looked over at Cloud to see a rather strange look on his face.

"What's wrong, Cloud?" he asked, bemused as to what was amusing Cloud so much.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just wondering if everybody really loves football. I'm sure Nanaki doesn't." He said. He remembered his first visit to the town four years ago. Nanaki had fallen asleep in the shade and Cloud had accidentally kicked a football directly into his nose. Nanaki was quite popular with the local children, since he was effectively a talking red dog. Rumour had it that after their ill-fated football incident, many of the local children had wanted dogs for their birthdays that year. Cloud suspected that many children had been left heartbroken when their dogs were not red and couldn't say anything aside from 'woof'.

"What do you mean?" asked Denzel. It suddenly dawned on Cloud that Denzel was not there four years ago and therefore had no idea what he was talking about. He contemplated telling him, but remembered that every time he had told the story in the past, he somehow wound up looking like the bad guy.

"Forget it. I'll be back late today, by the way. Nanaki called me yesterday. Says he needs to see me about something important. Is that OK?"

Tifa was quite taken aback by this. She had no idea that Cloud had been planning on going out for the day. She only had Denzel's class today and after that she had been planning to spend the afternoon with Cloud, lounging around on the beach in the sun, just enjoying each other's company.

"Actually I've not seen Nanaki in a long time. Mind if I tag along? I only have Denzel's lesson today anyway."

"I suppose I could wait an hour or two. OK, I'll pick you up from the school. Denzel, will you be ok if we get home late?"

"Sure. I'll probably just be out on the beach anyway. I'll see you later. Thanks for breakfast, Cloud." said Denzel as he took the empty plates over to the sink. Grabbing his rucksack, he waved goodbye as he went to find his friends before school started.

Tifa grabbed her shoes and started to get ready for work while Cloud washed up the breakfast plates, chatting about what Nanaki might want. It was rare for Nanaki to call. He ran Cosmo Canyon these days and rarely found the time to socialize. Truth be told, most of the group had gone their separate ways ever since the defeat of Deepground and Omega last year. Barret was running his oilfield and now had Marlene living with him full time. Vincent had basically vanished after the fight and hadn't been heard from since. Yuffie had taken over as leader of the people of Wutai and rarely made contact at all unless she needed something. Cid was now running the newly reactivated space program in Rocket Town and managing the defensive air fleet, and Reeve was still working hard with the World Restoration Organisation in their efforts to repair the damage done to Kalm during Deepground's attack. Everybody was busy with their own lives these days.

Tifa finally finished getting ready and stood by the door, checking her hair one last time in the mirror. They stood together for a moment, seemingly lost in each other's eyes. For a moment Tifa thought he might have leaned in and given her a kiss goodbye, but to her dismay he simply told her that he couldn't wait too long since Nanaki had said it was urgent.

"Have a good lesson, OK? I'd say don't overexert yourself, but after Sephiroth I doubt a game of football will be much of a challenge for you." He said, passing her keys over as she flicked the hair out of her eyes. As she took her keys their hands brushed together and sent a tingle of excitement through her. She thought how strange it was that they lived together and looked after Denzel together, but they were not a couple. Seeing how it might just be her lack of courage that was the problem, she leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek, giving him a sweet smile before walking through the door, leaving Cloud alone in the kitchen, utterly bemused by what just happened.

Tifa's lesson with Denzel could not possibly have gone any slower. She was lost in thought over everything that had gone on that morning, fearing that she had made a mistake and scared Cloud off. Thinking about everything they had been through together, having never caught a break. From her friends alienating Cloud as a child to Aeris' death haunting Cloud for years, something had always stood in the way. Perhaps now that they finally had peace they could open up to each other at last. Tifa was so hopelessly lost in her thoughts that she was paying no attention to the game of football she was supposed to be supervising and had to be snapped back to her senses by a very irritated Denzel when she missed what was apparently a blatant and disgusting piece of hand ball. She resolved the situation well enough but soon drifted back into her little dream world, eventually tripping over a stone to bring her back to reality.

She couldn't help but think how good it would be to spend more time with Cloud, just the two of them. It was a good hour or so to Cosmo Canyon on Fenrir, plus no doubt they would stay there a while to catch up with Nanaki. It would be foolish to drive all the way there only to turn back as soon as they got there. Cloud would need a break after riding through the mountains as well. Hopefully there would be no fiend attacks, but then since sightings had gone down recently it seemed unlikely they would run into any trouble, much less anything the two of them couldn't handle.

Soon enough the lesson ended and Tifa walked nervously towards the main gates with her class in tow, petrified that Cloud would not show up after her actions at home. She kept a close eye on the town hall clock, noticing that Cloud was running late. The students began to grow restless and began chatting among themselves about why they were stood outside the school for no apparent reason. As time went on, Tifa began to grow more and more nervous, her face becoming red. Denzel looked at her with a puzzled expression but decided it wasn't the best time to be questioning her.

Just as she was about to give up hope, Tifa suddenly heard the mighty roar of Fenrir's engine, loud enough to be heard a whole street away. The children all whirled around to see Cloud's one of a kind jet black motorcycle scream around the corner, its gold trim catching the light as it came skidding to a halt in front of the school. Cloud peeled away the goggles he wore while driving and brushed his spiky blonde hair back into its normal style. It was obvious that he had spent most of the morning polishing Fenrir as it had been buffed to a sparkling finish. He smiled at Tifa, who was blushing uncontrollably, stepping off Fenrir and looking through the crowd of students to find Denzel.

"Hi kids. How was your lesson?" he asked. The kids used to look shocked when Cloud showed up, but these days they had grown more acclimatised to his presence, especially after he had helped to fix the school's roof after a storm a few months ago. They still idolised him, but at least they kept their adoration to a quiet murmur.

"We won, but it was a close call for a minute." said Denzel, still in the midst of the crowd of students.

"Well done. You didn't cause Tifa any trouble, did you?"

Tifa began to look a little embarrassed, and Denzel quietly explained that he was responsible for the hand ball, but that Tifa hadn't even noticed because she was off in her own little world. Cloud looked over at her, and she blushed at their eyes met and turned away. He smirked a little. He thought she might be like this after what had happened earlier. He put his hand on her arm and gave it a gentle squeeze to calm her down, but this only seemed to make her blush more. Denzel and his classmates sniggered at Tifa's expense but she simply smiled and tried to cover up her embarrassment.

"You ready to go?" Cloud asked, and Tifa simply nodded. Telling her class to go back in for their next lessons, she climbed onto Fenrir behind Cloud, and he kicked the engine into life. As they sped down the street towards the city limits, Tifa held on tight behind him, thinking about everything that had happened. What did it all mean? She was so confused. Did Cloud want something more between them or not? As the wind whistled past her, she thought she heard a voice in her head telling her to just try something and find out, but as soon as she had heard it, it was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

As Fenrir sped across the wilderness, Tifa sat in silence, her mind a whirlwind of what ifs and should I's. Wracked with nerves she found herself frozen in fear, unable to speak at all, even when Cloud paused to ask her what was wrong. The journey was mostly uneventful, until a group of wild wolf-like bandersnatch fiends had the courage or foolishness to dive down towards the bike while they travelled through a mountain pass. Cloud could easily have taken them all out from Fenrir, but he decided to pull over so that Tifa could help as well. As the first bandersnatch dived towards them, the clasps on the side of Fenrir unlocked, striking the leaping fiend with the side panels of the bike and sending it flying into the wall, impaling it on a sharp rocky spike with a spray of dark crimson blood. Cloud pulled over to the side of the path and drew one of his many swords, the core blade around which all of the other blades could be locked in place to form a much larger sword with strength greater than the sum of its parts. As another fiend leapt towards Tifa, she dodged to the left and brought her heel up behind the creature, connecting with the back of the creature's neck with the sickening crack of snapping bones. Two more approached from the high walls and Cloud leapt up to intercept them in midair, slicing one in half. The sole survivor slipped past him, diving down to the floor at Tifa's exposed back. Sensing its approach, she leapt into the air and over the top of the snarling beast, soaring down onto its back, snapping its spine as she crushed it into the floor.

Cloud smiled as she finished off her opponent, glad that her skills had not withered. He heard the pained whimpers of the first attacker, still impaled on the wall, barely hanging on to life. He took pity on the poor creature and finished it off with a deft sword strike to the head. He turned to see Tifa clutching her arm and winching, and rushed over to see what had happened. Thankfully it was an injury she had sustained during the football match when she had fallen over in her absent mindedness. It was only a minor graze but the dust kicked up by the battle had irritated it slightly. Cloud opened up one of Fenrir's many hidden compartments and took out a first aid kit, cleaning the wound before wrapping it in a bandage, just to make sure.

Before long, the high towers of Cosmo Canyon came into view on the horizon. The place hadn't changed much in all these years. Evidently Nanaki favoured tradition. Fenrir pulled to a stop at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the main gate, where Nanaki sat patiently waiting for them. Cloud almost didn't see him at first, his distinctive red fur not quite so distinctive against the reddish brown background of the canyon floor. Thankfully the flame at the end of Nanaki's tail gave him away. He pottered over to greet them as they dismounted from Fenrir, the white feathers in his mane blowing wildly in the wind.

"Glad to see you made it, my friends" he said, his voice thick with a sense of sophistication and intelligence.

Tifa smiled at their old friend, who did his best to emulate the gesture. "Good to see you again, Nanaki. How have you been? It's been so long."

It always struck Cloud as rather amusing that Nanaki always seemed to be busy with running Cosmo Canyon. He could accept that there must be more to it than meets the eye, but it puzzled him how it could take up so much time considering the village never changed at all.

"Indeed, it has been too long. How have you been? I do hope Cloud is not causing you too much trouble?"

Cloud looked rather hurt at this remark, finally joining the pair's walk up the stairs now that he had finished securing Fenrir, brushing the reddish brown dirt from the side panels with a rag he kept handy behind the controls. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"I simply referenced that you do, at times, create a little...trouble."

"I also get the world out of it a lot of the time. With a little help, of course."

The trio all laughed, finding it somewhat inspiring that they could now laugh at their hardships. It was true that Cloud had something of a reputation for being a little difficult, thanks to his usual attitude of emotional detachment. Cloud thought of how he had changed over the last few years, especially since his battle against Kadaj and the reincarnated Sephiroth. He thought to himself that a comment like that from Nanaki a few years ago would have left him sulking.

As Nanaki and Tifa continued to walk up the many stairs towards Nanaki's home atop of the town walls, Cloud paused to look around and reflect on his previous visits to Cosmo Canyon back in the meteor crisis. Nothing had changed at all. Every hut, every tower, every stall in the marketplace remained the same. Even the people looked almost exactly the same as they had all those years ago. It was if the whole town was frozen in time, locked away from the rest of the world. And yet Cloud wouldn't change it for anything. The painted wooden huts and simple lives of the people were far more appealing to him than any modern city. He grinned as he thought how even after all his adventures, he was still a country boy at heart.

But one thing had changed. He barely noticed the glint of silver over by the old plateau where the group had once sat to discuss their plans. It caught the light of the midday sun, grabbing his attention. He called to Nanaki to ask what it was and how he had never noticed it before, and Nanaki paused to explain.

"It is a commemorative plaque the villagers put in place to honour all of those who have battled to save our world through all the battles we faced together. It honours us all. You, Tifa, myself. Even...her. Especially her. She made the greatest sacrifice of all.'

"I'm sure Aeris would be touched."

Tifa breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment there, she was afraid that the mention of Aeris would send Cloud into another fit of guilt and depression. Cloud had never told her that the reason he had moved on was that Aeris herself had spoken to him on several occasions throughout his battles against Kadaj and Sephiroth, urging him to forgive himself. He had finally let go of his guilt and the restoration of his inner strength was what allowed him to finish off his nemesis once and for all. He had never told the others about Aeris' involvement, although Tifa seemed to know she had been there.

"Is this what you called me for, Nanaki?"

"Oh my word, no. My news is of far greater importance."

Nanaki led them to his home, Bugenhagen's old observatory. Tifa smiled as she remembered their first visit here years ago, when Bugenhagen had shown them his holographic presentation about the planet and the Lifestream. The images of space and the Lifestream coursing through the world had been rather beautiful and had stuck with her. She sat down on the couch while Nanaki sat across from her on the carpet.

"The truth is, I am in need of some assistance. Have you heard the rumours of late?"

Tifa and Cloud both shook their heads, puzzled.

"Well, there are stories going around that I was spotted chasing down a group of Fiends around the Gold Saucer area about a week ago. Witnesses swear that it was me, but it wasn't. I was here. There are too many witnesses for them all to be just dismissed, so I have to look at the alternatives."

Cloud and Tifa exchanged more puzzled glances. Costa Del Sol wasn't exactly a hotbed for gossip any more, but they found it strange that this information had totally slipped by them.

"I can only think of two possibilities myself. Either this is some sort of new fiend which has started some sort of fiend civil war, or it was...well, another me. Another of my species."

Tifa looked confused. She looked at Cloud, who simply shrugged. "I thought you were the last of your species, Nanaki. "

"Well, not exactly. You remember how my father Seto died fighting the Gi tribe in the caves? He was covering the escape of the rest of my species. Nobody knows what became of them after that. They seem to have simply vanished. Perhaps they were all caught and killed. Perhaps they have been in hiding all these years. Nobody knows for sure. "

Cloud sat down next to Tifa and thought back to their last visit to Cosmo Canyon when Bugenhagen had passed on. He had made a fleeting comment about Nanaki not being alone before he died. Perhaps another of Nanaki's species had survived. On the other hand, if there was some new breed of fiends around, it would explain the very noticeable drop in fiend sightings over the last few months.

"We'll keep our eyes open for you. See what we can find out. Try not to get your hopes up though, ok?" said Cloud. "Is there anything else we can help you with?"

"Actually yes there is. If I need to leave to pursue these rumours, I should leave somebody else in charge of the village. There are a few good candidates and I was hoping you could perhaps help me chose between them, they all seem to have their own unique qualities."

Cloud nodded, secretly wondering why Nanaki was asking for his advice on leadership, suddenly realising that he may well have been talking to Tifa. After all, Tifa had run Seventh Heaven for years. He looked over at her and she smiled at him, perhaps sharing his chain of thought.

"And one last thing, Cloud. I was looking up at the sky through grandfather's telescope a few nights ago and I thought I saw something strange. A sort of flash in the sky. I called Cid over in Rocket Town and he says his observatory didn't see anything, but I'm sure I saw something. It's probably nothing, but if you hear anything, let me know. Just so I don't think I'm going crazy."

"Consider it done."

The trio walked around the village for an hour or so, discussing the pros and cons of the various candidates for Nanaki's temporary replacement, enjoying the views of the canyon around them. They eventually reached a decision that seemed most beneficial to the majority of the village and decided to sit by the fire on the plateau, swapping stories and catching up. Tifa's stomach started to rumble, she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Cloud got up and wandered off without a word, leaving Tifa and Nanaki sat looking perplexed. But soon enough he returned, and with a small box of chocolates under his arm which he handed to Tifa.

"Cloud, these are my favourites! Thank you."

"I figured you'd get hungry on the ride so I picked them up on the way to the school. Sorry for being late."

Nanaki looked at them both, smiling and lost in each other's eyes again, shaking his head at them as he curled up by the fire.

It was late that night before Fenrir finally came to a halt outside the villa. The stars were already out and the streets were quiet, with most people already in their homes getting ready for bed. Denzel was already waiting for them when they got home, having seen them coming and rushed to greet them. As usual, stories of how the day had gone were exchanged, Cloud told him what Nanaki had wanted while Tifa took a shower, and they sat trying to decide what to make for dinner. It had to be something special, but simple enough for Cloud's culinary-challenged brain to understand. In the end they gave up, agreeing that they weren't even that hungry anyway, and Denzel promptly shuffled off to bed, clearly exhausted from a long and hard day at school.

Cloud went back outside, saying he was going to secure Fenrir for the night, but when he didn't return for nearly twenty minutes, Tifa started to worry. She peered out of the window to see Fenrir chained up securely outside, with the worst of the dirty marks wiped from its normally immaculate paintwork, but Cloud was nowhere to be seen. She started to wonder where he had gone and decided to go looking for him, pulling her boots back on and slipping into her black leather jacket.

She wandered down the beach and found him sat on the moonlit sands, staring out to sea. Hundreds of stars reflected off the calm ocean, the moonlight soft and soothing. Cloud sat letting the waters gently lap at his boots, seemingly lost in thought. She had to pluck up the courage to say something, since it didn't seem like he was going to. She always found it strange that Cloud has no confidence problems fighting against sadistic maniacs like Sephiroth but could never find the courage to start an awkward conversation with her.

But to her surprise, it was he who spoke first.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" he asked as she sat down beside him.

"Yeah. Peaceful. Calming. Guess this is why we came here."

"This is what we fought for. All those battles, to preserve peaceful moments like this."

Cloud smiled and turned to face her. "And of course the people we share these moments with."

She blushed. "Of course."

"I can't help but feel that it's all over now though. There are no battles left. It's welcome, but it's scary at the same time."

She looked at him, puzzled. "How do you mean?"

"All I've ever known is battle. Now that I don't need to fight any more, I can't shake the feeling that I'm not really needed any more."

She ran her finger gently along his arm, feeling the hairs stand on end in the chill of the night. "I'm sure there is more you can do, Cloud. You're not finished yet."

"Like what?"

"Well...there's always our family, Cloud. There's always...us."

He looked into her eyes and frowned a little. "I'm no good with family, Tifa. What am I supposed to do?"

She drew closer to him and gave him a very suggestive look. "Try something. I'll let you know."

"Something like..." he said, never finishing as he leant in and kissed her gently, their lips meeting for the first time, fulfilling both their childhood dreams in one perfect moment, a moment that lingered, neither wanting to let it go.

As their lips finally parted, he saw the smile on her face and knew he had done something right.

"...that?"

"Something like that, yeah…try it again, I'll let you know…."

And with that they kissed again, like they had wanted to ever since they had known each other. Finally, there were no obstacles standing in the way of their feelings. They could finally show each other how they felt. There were no memories, or maniacs, or diseases, or anything. It was just the two of them, alone with their feelings. They had both wanted this so long ago. Tifa had wanted to tell Cloud how she truly felt about him so many times in the past, but she had never been given the chance. Now she had taken it for herself. And he had returned her feelings. He ran his fingers through her hair and pulled her in closer as they kissed with a passion that had been held within for far too long. As they fell back onto the soft golden sand, entwined in each other's arms, she knew her life was complete now. She was sure of it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The early morning sun once again blasted through the paper-thin curtains, casting its warming beams onto the two figures lying entwined on the bed, holding each other tight, as they had been all night. They slowly started to stir, but felt no need to rush. They had the whole day to themselves, a whole day to lie here together, savouring this precious moment, just being together. As the light of dawn wrenched her from her beautiful dream, she squeezed him tighter, a smile on her glowing face as she realised it was not just a dream. He was led by her, his long fingers running through her hair as he woke. She opened her eyes and her bright hazel eyes met with the deep blue of his, losing their greenish tint from his mako infusion so many years ago. The eyes she remembered from her childhood. The eyes she had often looked into longingly on their journeys together.

"I've waited so long to wake up next to you, Cloud." she whispered, unsure of whether Denzel was awake and listening in. He smiled back at her, lightly chuckling to himself.

"I know how you feel. I'll never understand why I waited this long." he whispered back, leaning over to give her a soft kiss on the forehead as she giggled happily.

However, their tranquil moment was soon stolen from them as Cloud's ears perked up, reacting to the sudden and deeply unwelcome din emanating from his mobile phone. He groaned and looked back into Tifa's eyes as they rolled upwards.

"You have got to be kidding me." he moaned, reaching over to his night stand to grab his phone. The caller ID read 'Cid'. Unusual. Cid only ever called when something was wrong. Puzzled, Cloud flicked his phone open and muttered his greetings.

"What the hell took yeh so long? Damn, Spiky. How lazy yeh got since yeh moved?" came the irritating yell of Cid's voice on the other end. He had never been known for keeping his voice down. Although at least he had refrained from using his usual foul language.

"You're catching me at a bad time here, Cid. What can I do for you?" Cloud muttered, exasperated that Cid would have the audacity to phone at this ridiculous hour only to insult him, especially today as he was waking up with Tifa for the first time.

"Do I even wanna ask what's keeping you so busy?"

"I don't think so, Cid. Now what do you want?"

Cloud shuffled out of bed, looking back at Tifa with a frown. She simply smiled back.

"We're restarting the space program at last. We're launching a satellite in a week and it's kinda important, so I need ya here. A lotta stuff I wanna run by yeh. Maybe you could bring Tifa and the kid."

Tifa sat upright, rubbing her eyes. Cid's voice was so loud she could hear every word.

"Maybe we could make it a field trip for my class, Cid. It's not often something like this happens. Besides, a lot of the kids have been asking about the meteor and space. You'd be much better explaining it all than me." she said, raising her voice a little so Cid could hear.

"Yeah, that'd work. But how yeh gonna get all them kids here? I doubt you can fit any more than two of yeh on that bike of yours, Spiky. Tell yeh what. You take care of getting' 'em all together, I'll take care of getting' 'em here. I'm sure I'll think of somethin'. Tifa, can you get the time off?"

"It's a space launch, Cid. I'm sure the school won't mind. How many kids can we bring?"

"As many as yeh like. Not like we're short on space here." Cid yelled back, laughing at his little joke as Cloud rolled his eyes and sighed.

"We'll take care of it, Cid. When can we expect to see you?" he said, the stress in his voice becoming more apparent as Cid continued to dig into his time with Tifa.

"Friday. Be at the city gates at around ten, I'm sure I'll think of somethin' by then. See yeh Friday, Spiky. You too, Tifa."

And with that Cid hung up the phone. Cloud flipped his mobile shut with a sigh, looking over at Tifa with a sorrowful look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Tifa. I should have left it."

She smiled warmly at him. He was worth the wait, she thought.

"You can't help the phone ringing. It could have been important. Besides, it sounds like fun. It's been a long time since we've seen Cid and Rocket Town. And Denzel's always been interested in space so he'll love it."

Cloud mobile made another beeping noise. He looked down to see the low battery symbol flashing at him. He let out an exasperated groan, looking around for the power cable. It was nowhere to be seen. He must have left it somewhere else.

"I'll be back in a minute. Otherwise this thing will never shut up."

He drew his dressing gown closer around him, tying the dark green rope into a tight knot. He looked out into the kitchen and saw his phone charger plugged into a wall socket. Wandering over, he plugged in his mobile, slamming it on the counter in frustration. As he headed back to the bedroom, he saw a note left on the table in the corner of his eye, grabbing it as he pushed the door to his room open.

"What's that?" Tifa asked as she saw the note in his hand, swinging her legs out of bed and struggling to stand up, still a little tired.

"It's a note. Denzel left it. Says he's gone out for the day with his friends." Cloud smirked. "Looks like we have the house to ourselves for the day."

"Is that so?"

Tifa gave him her best seductive look as she wandered over to him. He cast the note aside and grabbed her with an unexpected fierceness. She let out a yelp of surprise as he pulled her in close, giggling as he kissed her and they fell back onto the bed, wrapped in each other's arms.

* * *

The week went reasonably quickly. Nothing much out of the ordinary happened. The weather stayed beautiful, people went on with their lives, and life generally continued as normal. Denzel had picked up on Cloud and Tifa's change in demeanour pretty quickly, but he had been very understanding about the whole thing. He had walked in on them kissing in the kitchen as Cloud had been trying and once again failing to make anything more complex than a simple breakfast, and had simply shaken his head, muttered something about it being 'about time' under his breath, smiled at them and wandered off.

The rest of the town had started noticing the changes. Many saw them out together, holding hands and giggling. Most simply left them be. After all, while they were worldwide celebrities, most of the locals simply saw them as 'the couple down the road'. A few tourists from Kalm and Junon had pointed at them, but had left them alone.

Tifa had little trouble convincing the other teachers to allow the field trip. She had been quizzed about the security measures to prevent fiend attacks on the journey, but as soon as she mentioned that both she and Cloud would be attending the launch the few remaining fears soon vanished. Cloud had spent most of the week making some repairs to Fenrir, giving it a deep clean and making some alterations to the compartments on the back. On the Thursday night, Tifa came home from work to find him polishing the front panels to a gleaming finish, clearly wanting to make a good impression to the kids early the next morning. As he opened the side panels of the bike to finish his work, she noticed he had placed all six of his blades into their respective slots in his sword racks, after all of the swords had also been given a thorough cleaning and polishing.

On the Friday morning, Denzel and Tifa went out early to gather the kids while Cloud ran a few last minute checks on Fenrir. He rode out to meet Tifa and the kids, seeing them sat waiting on the grass of the low hills just outside town. Cid's supposed transport was nowhere to be seen. Cloud checked his phone's clock and saw that Cid was running considerably late. He looked over at Tifa, who simply shrugged at him and turned back to scanning the horizon for any signs of Cid's arrival.

Cloud's phone buzzed and he flicked it open. Cid yelled only 'Look up' before he hung up. Cloud raised his hand to shield his eyes from the midmorning sun, picking up a blurry shape in the distance. He smiled to himself. He should have known better than to expect Cid to come by land. Of course he would bring one of his treasured airships. Flying was the only thing Cid enjoyed more than outer space, cigars and foul language. Tifa soon glanced over and caught sight of what they could now recognise as the Sierra. Thankfully Cid had taken the time to drape a sheet or something over the lewd painting on the side of the ship as the kids were now looking over in astonishment. The craft came to a stop just in front of them, the whirling rotors blowing hair and grass around as the local wildlife ran for cover.

Cid lowered the craft enough to extend the loading ramp and came out to greet them. He grinned as he noticed Tifa holding Cloud's hand.

"Told yeh I'd sort it. How yeh been?" he yelled, although for once with genuine reason. He had to yell to be heard over the noise of the rotors. Tifa secretly wondered if this is why he always shouted.

"Not bad, Cid. I see nothing had changed with you. Still up in the air at any opportunity." she said, raising her voice as much as she could.

Cid gave her a wicked smile, looking back towards the ship. "Yeah, she's my baby. I see you found one of yer own, huh?" he yelled with a light chuckle. Tifa looked at him, puzzled, until the penny dropped and she realised she was still holding on to Cloud's hand. She blushed uncontrollably, nodding almost imperceptibly. Cid just smirked and gestured for the kids to ascend the ramp.

"Are you two coming with us or are yeh takin' the scenic route on that thing of his?" Cid yelled from the boarding ramp, pointing towards Fenrir. Cloud nodded towards his bike to avoid shouting. Cid simply nodded and tapped his watch before wandering back into the ship.

Cloud and Tifa clambered aboard Fenrir as the Sierra rose slowly up into the skies. They could see Denzel and his friends on the command deck, waving through the windows or pointing wildly at various sights in the distance, all with smiles on their faces. As the ship took off towards the mountains in the distance, Cloud kicked Fenrir into life, Tifa sat behind him, holding on tight. He looked back to give her a quick peck on the cheek before revving Fenrir's powerful engines. With a thunderous roar they chased after the ship, speeding away in a storm of dust.

* * *

They pulled into Rocket Town a few hours later, looking around in awe. It had been nearly three years since they had last visited Rocket Town. Nothing looked the same. The teetering old tower that had once been visible from a great distance had been torn down in favour of an all new space centre, bright and shining in the noon sunlight. A gargantuan gleaming rocket stood proud on the launch pad, technicians of every variety darting up and down ladders and walkways, performing last minute checks and ticking off items on their clipboards. Behind the launch pad and control tower was the observation area, where the villagers were sat picnicking in the sun while they waited for the launch. The Sierra could be seen on a landing pad behind them, but had clearly been emptied before they arrived.

As they stepped off the bike and Cloud flicked a row of switched on the control panel to lock up his weapon racks, they heard the chattering of the kids emerging from one of the buildings off the side, led by Cid and a short blonde young woman in a white coat who neither of them recognised, presumably a technician of some kind. They could make out Denzel in the crowd, surrounded by his friends and laughing. They looked at each other and smiled, glad to see him getting on so well. Denzel had been quite reserved and shy until they had moved. It made them feel much better to know that they had made the right decision by bringing him to Costa Del Sol. Cid looked over at them and smirked. It didn't escape his attention that Tifa's hair was a mess and there was a noticeable rip on Cloud's jacket.

"What kept yeh? You're late. And yeh look terrible." he called, thankfully keeping his voice down a little around the kids. Cloud and Tifa both blushed, struggling for words and looking around wildly for anything that might give them enough of a distraction to evade the question. "Well? What happened to yeh?"

"Umm...fiend attacks. Hundreds of them. Big nasty ones. Took a while." Cloud stuttered. Cid stared at him, shook his head and smirked at him. Tifa turned bright red and tried desperately to change the subject to anything else.

"So...I like what you've done with the place, Cid. Sure looks different." she muttered, lowering her head and shuffling her feet to avoid his piercing gaze.

"Yeah, the whole place is nuts 'bout exploring the cosmos. Everybody helped build the place. State of the art equipment as far as the eye can see." Cid said, finally looking away from the blushing couple to gesture towards his beloved space centre.

Denzel poked his head out from the centre of the crowd to see Cloud and Tifa. He looked at them and wondered what exactly they had been up to that had caused the delay, but decided not to pursue it. "We've just been to the space museum. It's amazing. There's so much to see. And there's a whole section dedicated to Meteor. I never knew there were more of them out there, Cloud."

"Yeah, hundreds of them. But the chances of them moving without the Black Materia are pretty low. And I smashed it in thousands of tiny pieces. No need to worry."

Tifa finally finished blushing and looked up towards the rocket that dominated the skyline. While it retained the basic design elements of the old rocket that had once leaned precariously to one side, the new model had a brilliant silver sheen and atop sat a copper coloured nose cone, which Cid informed them contained the actual satellite. Steam had begun to rise from the base of the tower as the technicians began the last of the pre-flight checks.

It was now less than an hour before the launch and the group decided to grab a bite to eat before heading off to the command centre's observation deck. As they sat in the local cafe, Denzel sat with his friends listening intently to the blonde technician as she explained the launch procedure. Occasionally Denzel would work out the next part of her explanation as she spoke, causing her to ruffle his hair and smile when he got things right. He smiled when she told him he would make a good engineer. Cloud and Tifa sat with Cid and watched him as Cid explained the nature of the satellite.

"Basically, we're sendin' it up there to look for anythin' out of the ordinary. But we've programmed in Jenova's biological profile an' set it to scan for anythin' like her that might be out there. Set it all up here so if there is any more of 'em out there, we'll know. Better safe than sorry, right? This thing'll look for Jenovas, meteors, Sephiroth wannabes, anythin' that might be a threat to us. Plus we put a pretty big telescope on it so we can have a look around for anythin' interesting. "

Soon enough it was time for the launch as the announcement bellowed over the speakers dotted around the town. The group made its way over to the main tower and up onto the observation deck, aside from Cid who took his leave to return to the main command deck to oversee the launch. The observation deck was surprisingly large and many of the technicians they had seen earlier had made their way here after their pre-flight checks to see the fruits of their labour. The kids all ran to the windows as the blonde technician who seemed to have taken on the role of tour guide for the afternoon explained to them that while the glass was designed to be thick enough to block a lot of the noise from the launch, it would still be extremely loud.

Cloud took a step back from the group and put his arm around Tifa, smiling at her. The speakers in the corner of the room announced that the launch was now in the final stage and began the countdown, with the kids all counting along. The clouds of smoke and steam rising from the engines grew larger as the countdown drew ever closer to the end. As the timer reached one, Cid's voice boomed over the tannoy as he yelled out "Hold on to yeh heads, boys and girls. This is gonna be pretty damn loud."

There was a deafening roar as the engines ignited in a great stream of fire and smoke, everything from the windows to the floor shaking almost to breaking point as everyone covered their ears in a futile attempt to drown out the noise. The shining silver tower of the rocket slowly lifted from the launch pad and powered its way towards the stars, followed by a grand trail of smoke and fire, as everyone looked on through the glass ceiling of the observation deck. Below on the grass the villagers could be seen cheering as the rocket pierced the clouds and slowly vanished from view. Cid gave a whoop over the speakers as the rocket disappeared.

After Cid had taken them on a tour of the centre and another quick walk around the museum, It was finally time to head home to Costa Del Sol. Cid loaded all the kids into the Sierra again and took off, speeding towards the mountains once again. He told Cloud and Tifa to take their time as he could take care of Denzel if they were running late, but couldn't help but smirk as he said it. They climbed back aboard Fenrir and sped off homewards.

About half way home, Tifa tapped on Cloud's shoulder and asked him to pull over. The events of the day had left her a little drained and the long ride home on Fenrir was exhausting. Cloud pulled the bike to a stop high up one of the mountains and they took a break, sitting together enjoying the view. As the sun began to set in the distance, the clouds were alight with a magical blend of reds and yellows as they sat on the grass, the wind blowing Tifa's long dark hair into her eyes. Cloud held her close and brushed the hair away from her face, smiling down at her and kissing her gently.

As she moaned gently and leaned in to the kiss, closing her eyes, he ran his fingers through her hair and they began to fall back on to the grass. Their passion increased and Cloud began to run his hand over the curves of Tifa's body, eliciting a groan of delight as her tongue began to explore his mouth. As his hand ran up the back of her leg, she flipped him over and sat atop him, giggling, breaking their kiss as they stared into each other's eyes.

Cloud suddenly looked strange. He asked Tifa to move off him and stood up, looking over at the horizon. She followed his gaze to see black smoke rising in the distance. As they looked on in horror they saw a great host of dark shapes hurtling towards the fires spreading across the ground, hundreds of fiends charging into battle. As the flames licked higher and the smoke became thicker, they suddenly recognised the target of the attack. The grand wooden turrets high atop the great walls of red stone, the mountaintop observatory ablaze.

Cosmo Canyon was under attack.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

A shiver ran up Tifa's spine as she looked on in horror at the waves of fiends charging into the fleeing civilians of Cosmo Canyon, cutting them down as they ran for their lives. Cloud grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the edge, climbing aboard Fenrir and kicking it into high gear, speeding towards the besieged canyon at dangerous velocity. As the towers of the village came into view on the horizon, they could see scores of black scorpion-like fiends as big as a man and other creatures looking like armoured wolves chasing down the fleeing villagers. A river of crimson ran across the soil, the body count increasing every moment. Tifa stifled a scream as they came into the town, passing so many lifeless faces in the ground

Cloud snapped open the side panels of Fenrir to access his swords, passing a pair of black leather gloves to Tifa as she clung on to him on the back seat. Hurtling into the back line of the wall of fiends, he drew his core blade and cut down two of the scorpions before they were able to react, severing limbs and releasing sprays of jet black blood. Tifa leapt from the back seat onto the back of another of the scorpion creatures, dodging a vicious barbed tail as she landed. Ducking under another attack, she grabbed the tail and snapped it off, black blood oozing from the stump as the creature let out an unearthly screech of agony as she stomped her foot down into the beast's head, ending its suffering. A wolf fiend leapt at her and slashed at her with deadly claws, raking them across the exposed flesh on her right arm, scoring deep cuts that dripped with blood as she yelled out in pain.

Cloud dismounted from Fenrir and threw one of his smaller swords to one side, spinning it in midair until it connected with one of the wolves, cleaving it in half. He dashed forwards and plunged his sword down into the armoured head of a scorpion, crushing in entirely. He looked to the side to see a group of at least five wolves preparing to leap towards him. Focussing his thoughts, he called upon his inner strength and countered as they leapt, striking with the force of a hurricane and sending the beasts flying into the canyon walls. He looked around wildly for Tifa to see her clutching her arm in pain and he ran to her side, arriving in time to block the deadly sting aimed at her back and slice the offending opponent in half.

As they took a defensive stance, they slowly became surrounded by the sheer number of fiends. Cloud once again began to focus, feeling waves of power pulsing through his body, focussing them all on his sword. With a powerful slash he sent forth a glowing wave of energy, hurtling into the closest fiend and shattering its armour plating on impact, sending out shockwaves as the strike dissipated, stunning the surrounding enemies. Tifa took the chance and dove forward. Grabbing one of the stunned fiends by its deadly stinging tail, she leapt high in the air and plunged it down towards the others. The makeshift projectile screamed as it flew into the ground with a nasty crack and a spray of blood as it crashed through one of its allies, killing it outright with the sheer weight of its friend. Cloud looked around to see that the enemy's numbers were beginning to thin, but it still looked nearly hopeless. As he struggled to think of a new strategy, a wolf leapt at him, its blood-stained teeth aimed for his neck.

A shot rang out from nowhere and the leaping fiend fell to the ground, stone dead. Cloud whirled around to see a flash of crimson as more fiends fell down dead to the sound of thunder. The twirling red haze came to a rest, taking the form of a man, slightly taller than Cloud, his hair dark and scruffy, his left arm a golden claw. He looked at Cloud and grinned, flipping his triple barrelled hand cannon to the right and firing another shot, hitting a scorpion dead between the eyes.

"Vincent! Great timing." yelled Cloud over the noise of the melee before raising his sword up to block the sting aimed at his chest. He kicked out at the attacker, stunning it with a boot strike to the head before plunging his sword into the unarmoured flesh of the creature's neck. Another black wolf leapt towards him but was intercepted by Tifa as she grabbed it out of the air and snapped its neck with a powerful twist. She landed next to Cloud and looked around to see that the fiends were heading further into the town. She looked to Cloud and he nodded, retrieving his wayward sword and slotting it into the front of his core blade with a snap. He flipped out his phone and called Cid to let him know the situation quickly. Cid yelled that he'd finish dropping off Denzel and the kids and be there as soon as he could.

As they charged into town they found themselves stunned by the devastation of the attack. Many lay dead or dying, houses where ablaze and the remaining fiends roamed the streets virtually unchecked. Hearing the cries of a pinned survivor, Vincent raises his gun and fired another shot, striking another scorpion in the back of the head, spraying the civilian it had pinned to the floor with thick black blood. The fiends seemed to be heading towards the Gi caverns deep below the town, and the team gave chase, cutting down all that stood in their way as they rushed towards the secret catacombs.

Dashing down the rocky path to the caves, Tifa winced as the dust and stones caught in the gash on her arm, but refused to let them stop. The door at the bottom of the trail had been forced open, the guards lying dead at their posts, pools of blood forming under their lifeless forms. Charging through the hole into the caverns, they almost froze in fear as they caught sight of the great purple behemoth charging through the caves, chasing down the few remaining defenders still fighting valiantly to defend their homes. A young man with scruffy brown hair swung his sword at the beast as it came thundering towards him but his timing was off, and he paid for it with his life as the fiend trampled him to the floor. Another of the villagers had armed himself with a spear and was struggling to fend off a small group of the black wolves until Vincent fired off three shots, cutting down most of his oppressors with his unparalleled accuracy.

As the behemoth heard the shots and turned towards them, Cloud raised his sword and shifted his footing slightly. As the beast charged towards him, its giant horns coated in the blood of its victims, Cloud dodged to the left and swung at the beast as it passed by him, striking it in the face but not with sufficient force to kill it, only enough to stun it. Tifa leapt onto its back and held on to its horn with one hand while she focussed her power into the other, striking down at the back of its head with enough force to send it careening into the floor as she leapt to safety. Cloud flew across the cavern to thrust his sword into the now exposed flesh of the behemoth's stomach, twisting his sword to inflict the final strike to put the evil creature down once and for all. Seeing the defeat of the great behemoth, the villagers rallied and fought on, repelling and killing many of the remaining enemies. Soon enough, the battle came to a close, and the survivors ran to the surface to help fight off the attackers.

"Cloud, Nanaki went into the Gi cavern, he said he felt something evil there. He's not come back yet." said the villager with the spear as he ran for the stairs.

"We'll go find him. Go help the villagers" Cloud yelled.

Running through the caves towards the great Gi cavern in the deepest section of the catacombs, Cloud looked back towards Tifa. Blood ran down her arm from a series of cuts and her top was torn from a near miss. He grinned at her as they ran through the darkening caves.

"Just like old times, huh?"

She smiled at him but soon stopped as she winced with the pain in her arm.

As they reached the cavern, Cloud raised his sword and charged in, seeing Nanaki surrounded by fiends and bleeding badly. As they charged in to rescue their friend, another stinger jabbed into his leg and howled in agony, collapsing to the floor in the gathering pool of blood as more ran down his leg, matting his fur. Cloud leapt in to slash away at the attackers as Vincent gave Tifa some covering fire, allowing her to pick off weakened enemies until another wolf slipped past Vincent and slashed its powerful claws down Tifa's back. She collapsed next to Nanaki as Cloud dived to her side, striking the fiend with such ferocity that it was cut clean in half in a huge spray of black blood. The last of the wolves leapt at Vincent, only to be caught in midair by his golden gauntlet and slammed to the floor. He choked the life from it as Cloud tending to the wounded Tifa and Nanaki.

"Are you two ok?"

Nanaki looked up, the fur above his eyes matted with blood from several deep cuts on his face.

"Never better. Why, what have you heard?" he mumbled, wincing and groaning in pain. "In there, Cloud." he said, nodding towards a stairway leading down to a lower level by the giant Gi totem. Cloud nodded.

"Tifa, are you ok? Can you stand?"

She looked up at him, still in pain but determined to carry on. She nodded slowly. He helped her to her feet.

"Nanaki, stay here. Cid's on his way with reinforcements."

Nanaki struggled to nod, wincing and growling at the pain, still collapsed on the floor. Tifa gave herself a quick check. The gashes on her arm had stopped bleeding while the fresh ones across her back began to sting, but aside from that she was no worse for wear. She put the pain to the back of her mind as she ran behind the others towards the totem at the back of the caves, sprinting down the hidden spiral staircase.

To their relief the cave at the bottom of the stairs was free of fiends. In fact it seemed almost empty. Just a cave. Dark and cold with a pool of clear water in the centre. They readied their weapons as they heard the whisper of a man's voice deeper within the cave.

"Yes, of course. This is the key. But where is the rest of it? He will not awaken with this…"

They looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice, but they could see nobody in the darkness of the cave. Cloud grew restless and simply called out to his invisible target.

"Show yourself. Whoever you are."

The voice changed to a light chuckle, a cold and menacing laugh of a man with confidence.

"Why would I want to do that? What possible tactical advantage is there in revealing myself when clearly outnumbered?"

Cloud looked over at Tifa and Vincent and couldn't help but shrug his shoulders. Irritating as the voice was, it had a point. "I tried." he whispered as Tifa stifled a giggle.

"Do excuse me. I am rather busy." said the faceless voice. "Ah, I see. That explains the writing on the other tablets. I require the…"

A shot thundered through the air as Vincent raised his weapon and fired at the direction of the voice, his eyes closed as he concentrating on listening for any hint of where the voice's owner may be hiding. The shot caused no damage as the voice chuckled again.

"Ah, the dead man. I see you're still with us."

Vincent froze. It couldn't be. Surely?

"Hojo?"

"What do you know? Maybe your brain did not die with the rest of you."

"Well you'd know all about death, wouldn't you? Didn't I kill you twice already?"

"Such a feeble mind, Valentine. Death holds no power over one wise enough to plan ahead. I would have thought you would have learned that last year."

Last year. The attack of Deep Ground. The battle against Omega Weapon. Hojo hadn't exactly come back to life. He was little more than a software ghost in the Shinra computer network, possessing the Deep Ground leader in his attempt to cause trouble. But even as a ghost he had caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people, simply for what he referred to as his 'research'.

"You see Valentine, what you fought last year was simply software. Not my eternal soul, as it were. That stands before you now and I think you shall find is quite beyond your power to destroy."

"We'll see." growled Vincent, firing off a volley of bullets towards the voice. A harsh wind blew through the cave as Hojo's mocking laughter resumed.

"Still unable to grasp the situation, Valentine. That toy of yours will do nothing to me even if you could hit me. Whatever voice it is in your head that told you it was possible to defeat me, it was lying to you. Now, give up and remove yourselves from my presence, I have work to do."

Hojo muttered quietly to himself as he carried on examining whatever it is he had come here to study in the darkness. As Vincent reloaded his triple barrelled pistol and Tifa paused to examine the cuts on her arm, Cloud stepped forward into the darkness of the cave, hoping to catch a glimpse of Hojo's location.

"So what it is you're here for, Hojo?"

Hojo snorted with disgust. "Why should I tell you? You were just a failure. Besides, my plans are of no concern to you."

"For a failure I somehow managed to beat what you deemed a success. Answer that."

Hojo paused to consider Cloud's words. "Hmm. Perhaps. You did beat Sephiroth after all. Three times, as I recall. Very impressive. Perhaps I should capture you and pick up my research where I left off."

"I'd like to see you try."

"A valiant attempt, Cloud. But you will not persuade me to reveal myself with such feeble tricks."

Suddenly a bright flash illuminating the caves as several glowing red flares were thrown into the darkness. Cloud whirled around to see Cid standing with several members of his crew, armed to the teeth and grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeh miss me, Spiky?"

Cloud nodded and turned to see if the flares had revealed Hojo's whereabouts, but still he saw nothing, even with the cave now fully lit. In the corner he could make out a large stone tablet, much like a grave stone, but the words were written in a language none of them could understand. They looked around feverishly for Hojo, but he was nowhere to be seen. As the wind blew through the caves once more, it became apparent that Hojo was gone.

* * *

Running back to the surface, they saw that the battle was almost over. Cid had called Rocket Town for reinforcements and now several groups of soldiers were finishing off the remaining fiends, machine gun rounds striking at weak spots with incredible accuracy. The Sierra had given chase to the fiends now fleeing across the dusty red canyon, heavy machine guns blazing as it cut them down by the dozen. A large group of the black wolf-like creatures tried to escape by leaping up the canyon wall as the Sierra fired off a barrage of rockets, striking at the fiends and blowing them apart in a cloud of red dust and smoke. A second airship wheeled overhead, commandos dropping down on lines to engage the few remaining enemies with swords and machine guns.

As the last of the fiends fled or died, Cloud breathed a sigh of relief. He looked around to see Nanaki still fighting hard to protect his village, his teeth sunk into the neck of the very last of the wolves. He threw his head from side to side, sending the last of the creature's inky blood onto the canyon floor and spat the now lifeless creature out before wincing and dropping to the floor in pain. Tifa ran over to him to help him up, still struggling with the pain in her back. Cloud returned his sword to the straps on his back and looked at the devastation. The village was almost completely destroyed. Many of the homes and towers were still ablaze as some of Cid's troops tried to fight the fires. Many of the villagers had taken refuge in Nanaki's observatory, which while still smouldering from a recent fire seemed to have survived for the most part. Not all the villagers had been so lucky. A quick look around and it became evident that the death toll would be in the hundreds. Women, children, soldiers. Nobody had been shown any mercy.

A few hours later, once the fires had been dealt with and the repair work had begun, they sat around the camp fire by the silver plaque. Tifa rested her head on Cloud's shoulder, her arm and back now wrapped in bandages. Nanaki sat washing the blood from his fur, still clearly in considerable pain. Cid stood over by one of the towers overseeing the repair work as his soldiers brought wood and other supplies from the Sierra's cargo decks to begin the long process of rebuilding the ruined homes. Vincent simply paced up and down, his face twisted with uncontrollable rage.

As they sat in silence, another airship arrived from Rocket Town bringing medical teams and other support. As the medics began the long job of dealing with the many bodies left from the battle, the heavens opened. The rains began to wash away the rivers of blood that remained on the canyon floor, as weeping relatives identified their loved ones. Tifa began to cry into Cloud's shoulder as the emotion became too much for her.

"So what do we do now?" Vincent growled.

"I don't know." said Cloud, his voice a mere whisper as he put his arm around Tifa and squeezed her tight. "I really don't know."

They sat in silence, letting the rains wash away the pain of the battle as they paid their quiet respects to those who were not fortunate enough to be sat there with them, their heads bowed and tears in their eyes. The rains soon stopped and Nanaki stood up, shaking the water out of his fur.

"Why would he attack here? What does he have to gain from this? What does my village have of any value to him?"

"That tablet in the caves. He was studying it. He said something about it being the key to something, something about awakening someone. That's about all I heard."

"Awaken who? Do you think he means Sephiroth?"

Cloud shook his head. "I don't think so. The only other thing he mentioned is that there were other tablets like the one in the cave. Nanaki, can you read the language on the one down there?"

Nanaki shook his head. "It is written in a language that I have never encountered. However I shall consult my grandfather's writings while I heal. Perhaps he knew something of it."

Vincent finally stopped pacing and sat down as Cid finally joined them, having set the repair crews to their tasks. "Any idea what these creatures are?"

"Not a damn clue. The lab boys say they've never seen anythin' like these before. All new breeds. I dunno what the hell we're dealin' with here."

Nanaki suddenly looked very worried. "Perhaps Hojo has the facilities to create these new fiends. If that is the case, we must shut them down as soon as we can."

Vincent shook his head. "I made sure that all the remaining Shinra biological weapons facilities were destroyed. Rufus decided they were best off as rubble so he told me where to find them. I assure you, none remain."

Tifa lifted her head from Cloud's shoulder and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Maybe he's creating them with magic. Two years ago, Kadaj and his gang could all summon Shadow Creepers, even without materia. Perhaps Hojo gained a similar ability."

Cloud shook his head. "I'm not so sure. When I fought the Shadow Creepers they simply vanished when they were defeated. These clearly have a more solid physical form. Maybe there was a lab even Rufus doesn't know about. He never knew about Deep Ground either, remember?"

"Then maybe you should go talk to him about it. I think I've had enough dealings with Shinra for one lifetime." growled Vincent.

Cloud looked to Tifa who simply nodded, following his trail of thought. "We'll go. It might be good to see Edge again, drop in on the orphanage. See how well Seventh Heaven is being run these days."

Nanaki sat back down with a sigh of exhaustion. "Cloud, do you think these new fiends are related to what we talked about?"

"I don't know, Nanaki. I just don't know."

* * *

As the night rolled in, Cloud decided that it wouldn't be wise to drive home until morning. He was exhausted from the battle and Tifa was still nowhere close to recovering enough for the long journey. Denzel had stayed in Costa Del Sol with some friends when Cid had dropped the kids off, and he would be ok there for the night. Nanaki didn't mind them staying, but he insisted that he not be disturbed as he intended to sift through the vast library of notes and textbooks his grandfather had left to him, looking for clues to the horrifying events of the evening. Vincent had no intention of staying anywhere; he simply left in a huff, off to pursue his own clues to Hojo's whereabouts. Cloud suspected he would go to the lake to see Lucrecia.

The sky was dark and the stars were out. Cloud and Tifa took one last walk around the village to see if there was anything more they could do, but Cid's medics and engineers had everything under control. It was amazing how quickly they had repaired much of the damage. The village was already looking better. Not wanting to disturb Nanaki, they walked up the spiralling stairs at the other end of the village to sit atop the plateau, taking in the view of the canyon in the moonlight.

"Cloud, was I useful today?" she asked, looking down at her feet.

"Of course you were. Why?"

"I just felt slow. You've seen me fight before. You know I'm normally better than that. Just look at my arm. That would never have happened before. And Hojo didn't even acknowledge me. Am I that non-threatening?"

Cloud was somewhat taken aback by her sudden outburst. Of all the things he was expecting her to be upset about, this wasn't one of them.

"You call that slow? You were tearing them apart out there. If that's you on a bad day, remind me to never get on your bad side when you're feeling your best."

She smiled a little, but it soon faded. "What about Hojo? He didn't even notice me."

"Hojo and I have a history. And I hardly need go into detail about what went on between him and Vincent. Don't worry. When we find him, you'll get every opportunity to show him why he shouldn't ignore you."

She frowned and looked down again. "Maybe that's just it, Cloud. This isn't the first time I've felt my old skills leaving me. Two years ago. When I fought against that silver haired man. I thought I had him and he still got back up and caught me off guard. And when they called out their Shadow Creepers, they were all over me."

He looked down at her and saw a tear run down her cheek. He put his arm around her and wiped away the tear with his finger.

"Don't worry. You're not the only one. When I fought against Kadaj and his minions, it took me plenty of time to get back in the swing of things." he said with a chuckle as she groaned at his rather poor attempt at humour. "OK, that wasn't the best joke ever."

She smiled at him and kissed him as they led back on the rocky plateau. The stars overhead were a beautiful sight in the cloudless night, but neither would notice.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

They were met the next morning at the village entrance by Nanaki, who still looked a little worse for wear, covered in bandages. He had a noticeable limp in his back leg as well, but he put on a brave face as he pottered over to say his goodbyes. He winced as he spoke and eventually had to sit down as he explained the schedule for repairs and how the plan for the moment was to keep the people occupied so that morale would be less of an issue. With the promise of continued contact, the friends said their goodbyes and climbed aboard Fenrir, kicking up a dust cloud as Nanaki limped back up the stairs towards his observatory.

The journey home was quiet and they soon saw the white stone buildings on the outskirts of Costa Del Sol on the horizon, almost glowing in the midmorning sunlight. As they pulled up to their home, Denzel ran to them from the beach, his face twisted in horror at seeing the bandages along Tifa's arm. She told him not to worry and that she was ok, but he still insisted on opening all the doors for her, making lunch, and bringing her some fresh flowers to make her feel better.

Cloud spent most of the day on the phone to the friends that hadn't been at Cosmo Canyon, keeping them in the loop. Barret had reacted with rage at his new and relatively peaceful life being disturbed. Reeve had taken the matter very seriously and had given Cloud his assurances that every precaution would be taken. He couldn't get hold of Yuffie. She never answered her phone any more, but nobody seemed to worry. He gave up trying to reach her in the end and helped Tifa to change her bandages. They had held off from anything intimate as she still ached all over, instead settling for gentle kisses and star gazing.

The next day, Cid had called asking if they were planning on going to Edge any time soon as he had to go there himself. Cloud had thought about it. While he would have appreciated the time alone with Tifa, going with Cid would allow Denzel to tag along so that he could visit his old friends in the orphanage. He had not been back to Edge since moving here, and the only one of his old friends he'd seen since then was Marlene, who had come to see him with Barret a few months ago. There was no way of carrying both Denzel and Tifa on Fenrir, at least not over such a long distance. So going with Cid in the Sierra seemed the only reasonable course of action.

Cid arrived the next morning, in the Sierra as they had been expecting. Cloud had decided to travel lightly armed, but given his history with Shinra he still brought along his core sword, which he had spent considerable time cleaning to remove the ink like blood of the black armoured fiends of Cosmo Canyon. It now shone in the light of the summer sun as he placed it gently in its straps. Tifa and Denzel were right behind him. Tifa had chosen a long sleeved black leather jacket, despite the burning summer heat, presumably to keep the orphans she once cared for from noticing the bandages that were still wrapped around the cuts on her arm. Only Denzel was properly dressed for the heat in his t-shirt and shorts, trying his best to suppress his amusement as Tifa struggled to cope with the weather.

The Sierra's command deck was exactly as they remembered. In fact it seemed most of the crew were the same as they had been for the past few years. Cid took the wheel as the ship lifted off, carrying them over the ocean towards Junon. Denzel stood watching the blonde woman who had been his tour guide operating a complicated looking control panel as she tried to explain how everything worked. Cloud and Tifa stood watching the world go by below, looking out to see Junon coming into view on the horizon. Now missing its famous cannon after it had been moved to Midgar to be used as the Sister Ray, and after the dissolution of the majority of the Shinra armed forces, Junon had become a simple civilian port. As the Sierra soared over the city, Cloud could just make out a dolphin swimming close to the beach. He smiled, wondering if Priscilla was down there swimming with it.

Soon enough, the ruins of Midgar came into view as they flew over the mountains. It had certainly changed over the past year. With the concentration of mako energy still at extremely high levels from the resolution of Meteorfall over four years ago, plant life had started to flourish and the ruins of Shinra Tower in the centre of the vast city now had grass growing in its hallways. Vines creeping up the side of the tower were blossoming in the summer sun, their colourful flowers sharply contrasting with the dull grey of the concrete of the tower. Cloud looked at the return of life to what had been a dead city, and smiled as he found comfort in the thought that no matter what cataclysm would befall the planet, it would always recover, greener and more vibrant than ever before.

As they flew over the centre of the ruins, the new city of Edge sprang up in front of them, shining and vibrant silver towers rising from the dirty yellow of the plains. Now fully recovered from the attack of Kadaj and Bahamut Sin over two years ago, the city pulsed with life as people wandered the maze of streets, going about their daily business. As Cid lowered their altitude on the approach to the landing pad, they could begin to recognise some of the streets they had once roamed, shops they had visited, even the newly rebuilt tower where they had fought with Bahamut. Denzel's new tour guide friend flicked at a row of switches to open communications to the landing pad.

"This is airship Sierra, requesting landing clearance." she said into the microphone on her control panel, brushing her straight blonde hair out her eyes.

"Airship Sierra, you are not scheduled for landing. Please state your purpose." came a cold and formal male voice from the landing control tower. The young woman rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Airship Sierra here. Our purpose is to deliver a Mr Cloud Strife and a Ms Tifa Lockheart to your boss, Rufus Shinra. Perhaps you'd like to call him to confirm our invitation?"

The voice suddenly stuttered and barely managed to get out their landing clearance before shutting off communications. The blonde girl looked over at Cid standing at the wheel and smirked. He lowered the ship onto the landing pad, lowering the landing gear as he cut power to the main engines and eased gently to the ground using the manoeuvring thrusters. The command deck rattled slightly as the ship touched down and Cid finally released his grip on the wheel.

As they descended the entry ramp at the rear of the ship, Cloud noticed that there was a squad of armed guards waiting on the landing pad. He brushed Denzel behind him and placed his hand on his sword.

"Mr Strife?" asked the captain at the head of the group. Cloud nodded but kept his eyes locked on the guards, his hand twitching on the grip of his sword, standing ready in case they should try anything. "Men, you know what to do." the captain said to his squad. Cloud drew his sword and Tifa clenched her fists.

However, the squad simply raised their rifles and spun them above their heads before lowering them again and saluting.

A look of bemusement spread across Cloud's face as he lowered his sword slightly. He had a vague recollection of teaching some Shinra grunts the signature move he had inadvertently learned from Zack. Could they really be the same soldiers?

"Put it away, Cloud. You're so damn paranoid." came a familiar voice from the edge of the landing pad. He whirled around to see a pair of men in suits. The speaker he recognised instantly by his very distinctive flaming red hair style.

"Reno. What's all this?" he said, returning his sword to its straps.

"Orders from the boss. Guess he thought it would be pretty funny. Lucky we came to see for ourselves. I'd hate to see what that thing would do to these guys." Reno said, laughing quietly to himself. The bald man in the sunglasses next to him, Rude, allowed himself a brief smile.

Cloud turned to the soldiers who were still stood to attention, smiling as he recognised the captain who he had encountered in Junon all those years ago. "At ease, boys."

Cloud, Tifa and Denzel followed Reno and Rude down the ramps out of the landing pad complex to where a car had been made available to them, leaving Cid and his crew to take care of whatever their business here was. Reno flashed an ID card to a guard at the gate and he stepped aside.

"So what brings you back to the big city, Cloud? All that sun giving you a headache?" said Reno as he opened the door on a black limousine, ushering them all inside.

"Actually it's serious business. We've gotta speak to Rufus. Right now." came Cloud's reply, his voice lowered. The smile melted from Reno's face as he nodded his understanding and started the engine.

As the limo sped through the streets of Edge, the results of the last two years of effort from the local communities became ever more apparent. Where once there had been only the interlocking frameworks of scaffolding, there now stood multi-storey housing blocks and stores of every variety with their bright and colourful banners swaying gently in the breeze. They passed a lush green park where children were playing in the sun, laughing and running, bringing a smile to Cloud's face. He had always wondered if all his battles had truly been worthwhile. Seeing the smiles on the faces of so many children washed away any doubt that it had all been worth it.

Soon enough they pulled up alongside a large wooden building. Tifa looked puzzled. This wasn't Rufus' office. Where had Reno led them? The doors opened and they stepped out, looking around for an explanation until Reno stepped out of the driver's seat and pointed towards a large sign on the front, daubed with the words 'Gainsborough Orphanage' in many different colours.

"Well, we couldn't keep them all in Seventh Heaven now, could we? The boss decided that the kids needed a new place after the Geostigma crisis, so we built this place. The kids painted the sign, you know." Reno explained.

As they made their way inside, they saw many of the faces that they had once looked after, sat in classrooms or playing in the courtyards. Denzel beamed with delight as he recognised many of his old friends, running off to hug them. Tifa giggled as he ran up to a dark haired girl holding a moogle doll who she felt sure she had seen before.

"Probably better if we leave Denzel here while we talk to Rufus. He'll be fine for an hour or two. We can catch up with him and the kids later, we should talk to Rufus as soon as we can." Cloud mused, allowing himself another smile as Denzel started kicking a ball around with his friends. Reno nodded and they waved goodbye to Denzel as they were led back to the car.

A few minutes later they found themselves outside a smaller white building with a small gold plaque by the door that read 'Rufus Shinra'. Rude tapped a series of numbers into a key pad underneath the plaque and the doors swung open with a loud buzz. Inside people were dashing around carrying huge stacks of files, answering the many ringing phones spread along the rows of desks all crammed with people, all looking busy as they tapped away at keyboards. Reno led them all to a second set of doors at the end of the long corridor and casually brushed the doors apart.

Rufus Shinra, the former President of the Shinra corporation, sat behind his large oak desk, staring out of the large windows opposite the doors as he gave some complicated instructions to whoever was on the other end of his phone. He turned in his seat and smiled as he saw Cloud and Tifa waiting patiently for him. He put a quick stop to his conversation and set the phone down on his desk.

"Cloud. What a surprise." he said, leaning back in his chair and kneading his fingers together.

"Rufus." Cloud muttered with a slight nod.

"And Ms Lockheart. Always a pleasure."

Tifa simply nodded. She gazed around the office, quietly stunned that Rufus had settled for something so minimal after the luxury that the old Shinra Tower had offered. Aside from a few plants, the room was covered mostly in filing cabinets and shelves. The large oak desk was also covered in various pieces of paper which all seemed to be awaiting signatures.

"Rufus, we need to talk. We've got a problem." Cloud said, his voice slightly lowered, possibly so that the many secretaries busying themselves just outside the door would not overhear.

"Something so bad you can't deal with it alone, Cloud? Do I really want to hear about this?"

"It's Hojo."

Rufus' smile vanished instantly. He remembered all too well the trouble Hojo's twisted experiments had caused. The maniac that had used his own son as a test subject and turned him into the nightmare that was Sephiroth. In many ways Hojo was the cause of all of the world's troubles.

"I see. I was under the impression he died atop the Mako Cannon. In fact, didn't you kill him yourself, Cloud?"

Cloud thought back. The battle on the Mako Cannon all those years ago when they had defeated Hojo as he mutated into a horrific monster. He wasn't sure who had actually finished Hojo off, but he had a feeling it was probably Vincent. But of course that had not been the end of Hojo. He had transferred his mind into the Shinra computer network as he lay dying at the controls of the Sister Ray, emerging three years later to menace the world once again. He had returned, infesting the mind of Weiss and using the Deepground Soldiers to awaken Omega, defeated at the last moment by Vincent, but not before countless innocent lives had been taken.

"Well it seems he needs killing some more. He attacked Cosmo Canyon a few days ago. He can control new breeds of fiends. Killed hundreds of people."

Rufus lowered his head in shame. His company had endorsed Hojo's twisted research. He could not help but feel ashamed that this research was once again being used to kill innocent people.

"Why would he attack Cosmo Canyon? Is there some tactical advantage or is he just trying to cause as much mayhem as possible?"

"He was muttering something about an old stone tablet deep within the caves when we confronted him. I took a look at it but I couldn't understand it."

Rufus tapped a few buttons and the doors swung open, a blonde woman in a business suit striding in, smiling at Reno as he leaned against the wall.

"Elena, get an investigative team together, send them to Cosmo Canyon. There's a stone tablet in the lower caves somewhere. We need it translated immediately." Rufus said. Elena nodded, turning to leave.

"Ask Nanaki to help you. He's been reading through Bugenhagen's books for any clues, maybe he's found something that could help you." Cloud said as Elena walked past. She smiled at him, winked at Reno and exited, barking orders to many of the people sat behind their desks as she began to get things organised.

"Fast work." Tifa exclaimed, stunned that Rufus was being so helpful. No matter what happened, she would always view him with suspicion. After all, Shinra and therefore Rufus had been responsible for the murder of her father and the loss of her entire town. Maybe some people could forgive but she would always keep Shinra at arms length.

"How else can I help? What about these fiends? Tell me about them."

Tifa shuddered at the thought of the fiends that had attacked Cosmo Canyon. Her arm spasmed as she remembered the razor like claws of the black wolves tearing into her flesh.

"We saw two kinds. Black wolves, similar to the bandersnatch but faster and with tougher hides and sharp claws. And there were some strange scorpion-like creatures, thick shells and much more agile than they look. And there were hundreds of them." Tifa said as Rufus nodded along. He prodded his keyboard and stared blankly into the monitor on his desk, shaking his head as his search showed no matches.

"New fiends indeed. Do any remain?"

"They don't vanish when defeated like the Shadow Creepers, and they have thick black blood. Not like regular fiends at all. Cid has specimens in Rocket Town. If you could send a team to help him too?"

Rufus nodded towards Reno and Rude, who simply nodded back with understanding. "Reno and Rude will go to Rocket Town as soon as we're finished here. Reno might not look it but he's quite useful in a lab."

Cloud shot Reno a look of disbelief, and Reno simply smirked. It seemed not many people believed that Reno had a brain in his head.

"We shall use all our resources to assist you in this matter, Cloud. Hojo is our mistake. Please, let us finish mopping up our past." Rufus continued. Cloud nodded silently, his respect for Rufus' new outlook growing. "And what of you two? How is life in the sun, Cloud? I hear you live in my old villa now."

"Well I did buy it fair and square."

Rufus chuckled. He had not actually been aware of the villa until it had already been sold. The funds that he had earned from the sale had been used to build many of the new structures around Edge, so in many respects Cloud buying the villa had become something of an accidental charity act.

"I hear you took one of the orphans with you. How is he getting on?"

"Denzel? He's doing well. He's quite popular at school."

Reno chuckled behind them and brushed the hair out of his eyes. "And what about you two? I hear you finally grew a pair, Cloud."

Tifa blushed uncontrollably as Cloud looked down. Everyone else chuckled lightly, including the normally silent Rude. After an awkward silence, Cloud simply nodded.

"About damn time, Cloud."

Meanwhile, back and Gainsborough Orphanage, Denzel ran after the red ball his old friends had accidentally kicked over to the other side of the courtyard. As he knelt down to grab the ball, a young man beckoned him over. The boy was a year or two older than Denzel, his hair a messy black tangle and his eyes somewhat cold and harsh. He sat Denzel down on a bench in the corner of the courtyard.

"You must be Denzel, right?" the boy said, his voice somewhat bitter. Denzel nodded. "You live with Cloud and Tifa, don't you?"

"Yeah, Cloud's been looking after me ever since he found me outside the Sector Five church. Why?"

The boy looked away, lowering his head. "I don't know how you can stand to be near them. Don't you know what they did?"

Denzel looked puzzled. Cloud and his friends had saved the world. What was bad about that? He shook his head and the boy sighed.

"You never heard of Avalanche?" the boy said. Denzel nodded. He had heard of Avalanche. They were the terrorists that had been destroying the mako reactors around Midgar and had eventually destroyed the support column for the Sector Seven plate, destroying the entire town and killing hundreds of people in the process.

"You never wondered who they were? Your precious family. They're Avalanche. They killed my entire family. They're the terrorists who blew the plate."

Denzel shook his head. It couldn't be true. Cloud couldn't have been a terrorist. He was a hero. So was Tifa. They had saved the world and defeated Sephiroth. They had cured his Geostigma, taken him in when he had nobody else and treated him like a son. They couldn't be terrorists.

"You're a liar. Cloud and Tifa are heroes. They saved the world for people like you." Denzel said, staring at the boy.

"No, Denzel. They've lied to you. They blew the column, they crushed Sector Seven and everyone in it. Why do you think they took you in? Out of guilt. They probably murdered your real parents too, you know. How can you stand there and defend them?"

"I don't believe you." Denzel yelled. "Why would you say such things?"

The boy whirled to face him, shoving Denzel backwards. "They killed my parents. My entire family, everyone I ever knew. And you stand there and call me a liar? I'm trying to help you see the truth before they hurt you too."

Denzel's temper finally snapped and he screamed, lunging at the boy and swinging his fists, feeling his knuckles connecting with the boy's chin as they stumbled backwards. Denzel kept screaming and punching wildly as they rolled around on the cold stone floor, kicking up clouds of dust. Soon the other children in the courtyard appeared, some chanting 'fight' while others dived into the melee, trying to pull the brawlers apart. They finally succeeded, pulling Denzel off the boy, kicking and screaming, his knuckles covered in blood and his lip split.

"Don't say that about Cloud!" Denzel yelled as the other boy rose to his feet. A trickle of blood was running from the corner of the boy's mouth and his eye was starting to swell up.

"You'll see soon enough. Why not just ask them? If they're so great they'd tell you the truth." he said, spitting blood onto the ground. "Or maybe they'll just kill you too."

Denzel sat quietly in the corridor, holding an ice pack up to his now badly swollen eye, thinking about everything the boy had said. Cloud had always been a little vague about exactly how his great adventure had started. But could he really have been a terrorist? Could he have been responsible for the deaths of countless innocent people?

No. He couldn't be. Cloud had never given him any reason to think that he was capable of such a thing. Maybe the boy was lying to get attention. Maybe he was disturbed. What did it matter? The fact is that he was lying. Cloud was a hero. He had saved the world. He had rescued Denzel from the wandering the wasteland of the Midgar ruins and given him a home, a family, everything he could ever ask for.

But in the back of his mind, Denzel held on to a tiny fragment of doubt. How had Cloud and Tifa met? What had really happened? Maybe one day he would ask one of them. But for now, he was happy with his family. Why ruin it by entertaining a liar's fantasies?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Cloud has always hated times like these. Waiting around for the enemy to strike, not knowing where and when the bloodshed would begin anew. He belonged on the battlefield, in the heat of the moment. Patience was not in his nature. But for now, there was nothing to do until Hojo revealed himself. The teams sent out by Rufus were busy pouring through the reams of data they had collected from the fiend attack on Cosmo Canyon, but aside from a few hints on where best to hit them, nothing of any real use had come of the weeks of research. Nobody was any the wiser as to where these fiends had appeared from, nor did they have any idea how Hojo was controlling them or why. The translator teams had spent the past few weeks staring at the stone tablet deep within the caves under Cosmo Canyon, but so far they still had no idea what language it was written in, never mind what it said.

However, life was not totally empty back in Costa Del Sol. Denzel's birthday was fast approaching. He had been a little quiet ever since the trip to Edge so Cloud and Tifa had planned a whole day out for Denzel and his friends to the Gold Saucer amusement park. They still had a lifetime pass they had acquired on their adventures almost five years ago during Meteorfall. Invitations had been dispatched discreetly around school, disguised as notes from the doctor about checking for signs of Geostigma. Naturally Denzel had asked why he did not receive one, but Tifa had explained that as he had already had Geostigma he was immune to it and did not need to be checked. By some miracle Denzel fell for it and their ruse was not discovered.

Everything was planned. Everything had been booked in advance. Cloud had also received a special invitation to participate in a contest at the Battle Square. While he had doubts that the Battle Square was the best place for the children, the organisers had convinced him that it would be good for the kids to see their hero in action. Cloud strongly suspected that they were only getting him involved to sell more tickets to the park, but he had eventually decided that a little practise couldn't hurt and agreed to fight.

They had also spent a long time wondering exactly what to get Denzel for a birthday present. He didn't seem to actually need anything. He spent most of his free time on the beach with his friends from school. Thankfully they had decide to take him shopping one day to see if he dropped any hints and he had, having spent almost ten minutes staring at a pair of football boots. They had allowed themselves a little giggle as they had gone back the next day to pick the boots up, greatly amused by having Denzel do all the hard work for them.

Barret had called about a week before the big day and had asked if Marlene could tag along to the party, agreeing to meet everyone at the Gold Saucer on the day. Tifa smiled as she thought of Marlene. The sweet little girl that Barret had adopted was surprisingly brave and understanding for her age. She was one of Denzel's best friends. Tifa had seen the way she had taken care of Denzel when he was suffering from Geostigma, sat by his bed all day, holding his hand. It would be interesting to see how their friendship developed as they grew. She realised that it was just one of the many moments she had to look forward to while she was a mother figure to Denzel, her heart glowing as she thought of everything else she would have to look forward to.

The big day finally came, a beautiful day with the sun blazing overhead, a gentle breeze stopping the heat from becoming overwhelming. Denzel had been most surprised when he woke up to Could and Tifa singing happy birthday to him, with his new boots wrapped up waiting for him on the breakfast table. Tifa had left Cloud in charge of wrapping Denzel's present and now knew she shouldn't do so again as she saw the tangled mess of tape wrapped haphazardly around the box. She shook her head at Cloud as he simply shrugged his shoulders. What would he know about wrapping presents?

They had led Denzel to the city gates where he had been surprised to find all of his friends waiting for him, most of them carrying presents of various sizes, singing happy birthday. The Sierra was hovering overhead, waiting to take them to the Gold Saucer for a day of fun and frolics. As they boarded, Denzel noticed that Cloud's sword was resting gently in the straps on his back, but chose not to question him on the matter. Tifa had also tucked her black leather fighting gloves behind her waistband. The Sierra blasted off and rocketed away over the mountains as Denzel's blonde technician friend passed him another present she had hidden underneath her control console.

As they sped towards the Gold Saucer, Cloud stood at the window, reflecting on his previous journeys through these mountains. Back then his life had been nothing but conflict. He was rather enjoying the change of pace of flying over the rocky peaks, looking out as the world flashed by beneath his feet. He silently wished that this latest crisis with Hojo would be over soon. Perhaps this would be the last time he would take to the battlefield and could finally enjoy the aspects of life he had always put to one side in the past. He looked over at Tifa as she pointed out various landmarks from their adventures to the kids listening intently. He allowed himself a smile. He had so many more adventures planned for the two of them.

Soon enough the Gold Saucer peered over the mountains in the distance, the giant golden tree covered in lights and people, a gigantic amusement park springing from the desert below. Cloud looked down at the swirling sands and shuddered. Every time he had gone near that desert he had been fighting for his life, from false imprisonment to the deadly Ruby Weapon, he had no positive memories of that wasteland. Hopefully today he would be able to avoid it and just enjoy himself. He snapped back to reality as the blonde communications officer sat back at her desk, flicking a row of switches on her control board as Denzel looked on.

"Airship Sierra requesting landing clearance." she said calmly into the microphone. She looked over at Cid with a smirk as if to say 'hopefully no trouble this time'. The speakers on her control board crackled and a young woman's voice came back.

"Airship Sierra, we have you cleared for landing at docking station 5. Skies are clear, Sierra. In your own time. Gold Saucer out."

The technician let out a sigh of relief and nodded towards Cid, who spun the wheel around to bring the ship in on its final approach, pulling on a lever at his side to lower the engine power to the minimum. As the ship approached the landing platform, Cloud could see the many people making their way around the park and the cable car slowly clambering up the long wires coming from Corel Town, which he could see in the distance. The town had made a solid recovery with Barret's help, now becoming a proper town instead of a collection of tents. The ship slowly but surely came to a stop on the golden landing pad and the thrum of the engines came to a stop.

As they disembarked, Tifa led the kids over to the main gates as Cloud stayed behind for a few minutes. He looked around to make sure that all of the kids had gone, leaving just him, Cid and the technician who was running checks on a few of the systems around the command deck.

"Cid, is there any news from the research teams yet?"

Cid shook his head. "Not much. It's slow goin', buddy. The wolf things are easy enough to kill, armour's weak under the neck and at the chest. But those scorpion things, they're somethin' else. Armoured all over. Shouldn't bother you much but a lot of our weapons don't work so good. We're workin' on it."

Cloud let out a sigh. "Well, keep me posted. Who's the girl, by the way? Denzel seems rather fond of her." he said, nodding towards the technician who was running a complicated diagnostic on one of the panels by Cid's wheel.

"Yeh mean Raven? She's my comms officer. Got a way with kids. Doubles up as our tour guide 'cause of it. She don't mind though, right Raven?"

Raven shook her head. "I don't mind. Denzel's good fun. He's pretty smart you know Cloud. He's been watching me work my controls. Picks up stuff real quick. Maybe he could work with the fleet when he's older."

"He seems fond of you. Wanna join us for the party?"

Raven shook her head again. "I'm ok. I have a lot of work to do here. Thank you though. You go spend the day with Tifa. Cid's told me all about you two." she said with a wink.

"Well let's just hope he's been saying nice things."

Cloud nodded silently to Cid as he turned to leave the command deck, leaving Raven and Cid snickering behind his back.

Cloud checked the edge on his sword as he made his way down the ramp out of the Sierra, glad that it was still sharp. He hoped he would not have to use it, but with Hojo still on the loose it was wise to take precautions. After all, with so many kids and innocent people around, today would be an ideal time for Hojo to strike if his objective was simply to cause chaos. He had been discussing the matter with Tifa days ago as she had been worried that something could happen. They had eventually decided that Hojo was just as likely to attack Costa Del Sol as he was to attack the Gold Saucer, so they would simply stay alert, inform the staff at the Gold Saucer to lay on a little extra security and Cloud would keep his sword with him, just in case anything did happen. They had also explained to the parents of the various children that they had taken every possible precaution, although they had not mentioned Hojo as they did not want to spread unnecessary panic and alarm.

As he snapped back to reality, Cloud saw Tifa and the children stood by the main gates, waiting patiently for him. For a moment he wondered why they had not gone inside to wait, until it dawned on him that the lifetime pass they needed to get in was in his pocket. Tifa sidled up to him as he approached, whispering in his ear.

"Are we using our family pass as an actual family this time, Cloud?"

He smirked. He should have seen something like this coming. A comment which looked innocent enough on the surface but naturally tied in to all of Tifa's hopes and dreams. He simply nodded, causing her to blush uncontrollably as they approached the brunette guard stood smiling by the gates.

"Good day sir and welcome to the Gold Saucer. Do you have a pass?" she asked, and Cloud couldn't help but think that her voice was a little rough, the harsh guttural slur of a woman who had a hard childhood perhaps. He produced the lifetime pass they had purchased years ago, with the photograph of how he used to look plastered on the front. He took a quick glance at it, shuddering at how cold and unemotional his old face looked, his eyes still shimmering with their faint glow of mako infusion that had since faded somewhat. The brunette looked at the pass, looked at Cloud, shook her head and passed it back to him.

"Sorry sir, this pass is a fake." she said with a slight grin, as if taking a little glee in delivering bad news. Cloud stared blankly at her, trying to think of any reason why she could possibly have said something that stupid. While it was true that he looked a little different from his photo, they were plainly the same person. Not to mention that his face was known throughout the entire world, making it a little unlikely that this woman didn't know who he was.

"What makes you think that?" Tifa asked the brunette as Cloud stood looking both puzzled and appalled.

"This card belongs to a Mr Cloud Strife and his party."

Tifa swept her arm behind her to gesture towards Cloud and the kids. "Exactly. Cloud Strife and party. What's the problem?"

The guard began a long list of somewhat ludicrous reasons why she didn't believe that the blonde spiky haired guy standing two feet from her face carrying a big sword was not Cloud. The kids were starting to grow restless and Cloud was losing his patience with the daft guard. He sighed as she continued with her list, rapidly losing interest. A part of him thought about how much easier it had been years ago when if someone was in his way he could just swing his sword at them, but he decided not to do something so stupid, especially in front of the kids. He looked around, trying to find some way out of the problem, seeing Raven descending from the ramp of the Sierra.

"Sis, what are you doing?" Raven yelled as she strode through the crowd of kids, her face gloomy.

"Oh, it's you. The big high flier. What are you doing here?" the brunette growled back at Raven.

"I'm here with Cloud. I see you're here just to be a pain in the neck as always. You gonna let us in or am I gonna have to get you fired again?"

The brunette scowled and took another look at Cloud's lifetime pass, making some pitiful excuse about misreading the information. He simply shook his head and walked past her as the kids stormed forward, screaming with joy. Raven shot the guard an evil look and followed them in.

"So sorry about that, Cloud. That's my dumb older sister. She's always causing trouble. Guess she recognised the Sierra and decided to be irritating."

Cloud smiled at Raven as Tifa ran after the kids. "Why does she act like that? And what's this about you getting her fired?"

"I really don't know. I think she's jealous that I work with the fleet while she works here. I offered her a job back in Rocket Town and she just threw it back in my face. It's sad, really. As for getting her fired, I didn't mean to. Honest. She was causing trouble the last time I came here when she worked in the theatre. Caused a big fight and the boss sacked her on the spot."

"Well thanks for your help. I'd have had to call Dio and have her fired too."

Raven smiled. "No worries. Is that offer to hang out with you guys still open? Turns out the system I was supposed to fix isn't actually broken, it was just dusty."

Cloud nodded, eliciting another smile as Raven increased her pace to catch up with Denzel. He looked around at the sights of the Gold Saucer as he passed through the giant golden archway into the main hub. Off in the distance he could see the spooky hotel they had stayed in, the searchlights atop the arena, even the holographic raceways winding through the park where chocobos of many colours hurtled towards the finish line.

The children naturally could not decide where they wanted to go first, so Tifa had suggested they head to the rollercoasters over in the newly redesigned Speed Square. Cloud had removed his sword as he stepped into one of the many cars of the rollercoaster, leaving the colossal blade with the security guards as it would not fit into car without taking up the seat next to him as well. Tifa sat next to him as Denzel and Raven took the car behind, the rest of the children filling up the remaining cars behind them. Chained to each car were two light guns they were to use to shoot down the many holograms on the wild ride around the park. Cloud had played the game once before and had set a reasonable score, his training as a Shinra grunt finally coming in handy for something.

As the cars started to move, Tifa gave Cloud a quick hug and they drew their light guns. Soon enough the various targets sprang into view, and the rollercoaster accelerated to its top speed, hurtling around the corners as they all screamed, blasting away at the balloons and space ships flying at them from every angle. As the coaster powered through the new hologrammatical terrain of the new program, they found themselves speeding through a vast frozen cavern, a lake of fire with a giant red dragon flying overhead as bombs dropped from the ceiling, a mountaintop as the sun set in the distance and finally off into outer space to be attacked by aliens.

As the ride came close to the end, one final giant target appeared above them. When Cloud had played before it had been a giant alien space ship. Now it was an image of Meteor, which the kids all blasted furiously at, cheering as one final shot from Denzel shattered the flaming rock into thousands of tiny hologrammatical fragments. As they disembarked, out of breath through excitement and laughter, Cloud looked up at the score board and noticed that his old score was still on there, but he had been soundly thrashed by Denzel who had taken second place on the board with a score of over six thousand. The top score was almost ridiculously high at over nine thousand, and Cloud wondered if such a score was even possible without some sort of alteration to the game. He collected his sword from the security guard, returning it to the straps on his back as Tifa led them off towards the next area.

Arriving in the area known as Wonder Square, Cloud was pleased to see that there was no giant moogle waiting to read him his fortune this time. The kids all ran off in separate directions to try their luck at the various machines and games. Denzel looked over at the racing game G-Bike and noticed that the top score was actually posted by Cloud.

"Bet I can beat your score, Cloud."

"Oh we'll see about that."

As the clambered aboard the two bikes, Denzel selected a mission from the menu. It seems that Cloud's high speed chase along the highways above Edge had been programmed in as a new level. Cloud thought to himself that he may have an unfair advantage over Denzel in this particular game. After all, he had done these chases for real instead of just in a video game. Soon enough they were speeding along the highway as sections of the road collapsed ahead of them and the various enemies sprayed bullets at them. Denzel pulled to one side, pressing the attack button on the side of his bike and his virtual avatar struck out at his attacker, sending the digital assailant flying into the distance. As he did, Cloud sped forward, his character ducking beneath a flying piece of debris. The race soon drew to a close and while Denzel had put up a valiant attempt, Cloud had retained his place atop the scoreboards.

When they finally tired of the many games in Wonder Square, Tifa had suggested that they take a break and do something quiet for a while, leading them towards the theatre at Event Square. However, Tifa's plan for a moment's respite backfired badly as they were approached by the ushers. Once again two of the actors had 'fallen ill' and the ushers simply insisted that Cloud and Tifa take their place as the play was a recreation of Cloud's battle against Kadaj and the remnants. Denzel had pointed out that it wouldn't require much effort as they already knew the story, and seeing the hopeful looks on the children's faces they found themselves dragged off towards the stage. The play was easy enough to bluff through until Kadaj made him appearance. He had been portrayed as a total lunatic, complete with giant bulging eyes and wild flailing arms, which had caused Cloud to begin laughing hysterically and unable to act seriously, fighting off his nemesis as he creased with laughter at his ludicrous appearance. When Sephiroth had made his appearance Cloud had been able to calm down a little, having to focus. He had never actually tried to use his techniques without actually using them. He had put a little too much force into his final attack against his greatest enemy, and the giant cardboard costume had fallen apart revealing a very scared and shocked actor blushing uncontrollably as he dashed off the stage. The children had all cheered as Tifa had ran to Cloud's side to hug him. He wasn't entirely sure what it added to the plot, but he thought she had probably just wanted to hug him anyway.

Unfortunately children were not allowed inside the Chocobo Square, much to Denzel's disappointment. They had also decided that the gondola was not an option as there was not enough room for everyone. They made their way to the Battle Square Arena where they were met at the doors by Dio, the owner of the Gold Saucer. Thankfully he had decided to wear something other than is usual thong and smiled as he saw Cloud approach.

"Good to see you, boy. Ready for your bout? We've got some real tough ones lined up for you this time. Don't go dying on me. Bad for business, you know." Dio yelled. Much like Cid he was known for his excessively loud voice. Cloud smiled at him and pulled on his leather gloves.

As Tifa led the kids up to the balcony to observe their hero, the metal portcullis rose into the ceiling and Cloud strode somewhat arrogantly into the Arena. He looked around to see that many other people had made their way up to the observation platforms, but he could still make out Tifa, Denzel and Raven waving to him. He drew his sword, which he had given a thorough cleaning and polishing prior to leaving Costa Del Sol that morning, standing ready and nodding towards Dio in the commentary box high above the great steel doors at the other end of the arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the legend himself, Mr Cloud Strife makes his way to the arena. Let's see if those hero skills of his can match the strength of the world's greatest fiends. Open the gates, let battle commence!" came Dio's voice over the PA system as the crowd erupted into mayhem. The steel doors began to swing open as Cloud shifted his feet into a more comfortable position, raising his sword into a combat stance as he waited patiently for his first opponent.

He was not disappointed as a mighty Dual Horn stomped through the doors, a large bull -like fiend noted for its deadly horns and powerful charge attacks. Cloud knew he could handle it at the drop of a hat, but he decided to put on a bit of a show first. As the fiend charged at him, he spun out of the way at the last moment as the crowd gasped and cheered. The Dual Horn grew angry at his teasing, turning around and thundering towards him again. Cloud smirked as he focused his energy into his legs, leaping high into the air as the beast sped by underneath him. Eventually he grew tired of teasing the poor beast, and allowed the fiend to charge at him one last time. He raised his sword and as the deadly horns of the fiend lunged forward towards his almost unprotected chest, he swung the might blade, slicing off both horns with one blow, sending the defeated Dual Horn skidding across the floor into the spikes around the edge of the arena, killing the poor creature as the crowd cheered and chanted for Cloud.

"That was just the warm up, boy. Don't get cocky or this one will be the end of you!" came Dio's voice over the tannoy as the doors once again swung open. Now the real challenge began as Cloud saw the mass of dark green tentacles writhing towards him in a great black smog. A Marlborough. They had become somewhat rare in recent years. Noted for their harsh whipping attacks and extremely poisonous breath. Cloud looked up at his admiring fans to see Raven throw something down to him. He caught it in midair to see it was a pink ribbon. He looked up at her as she mouthed 'use it' to him with a smile. He understood. This was no ordinary ribbon. He quickly tied it around his wrist and raised his sword, facing the approaching Marlborough.

It unleashed its foul poison breath against him, yet Cloud simply stood unfazed and unflinching. He could feel the magical protection of the ribbon coursing through his body, creating an unbreakable barrier against the horrific poisons trying to assault his internal organs. The Marlborough tried again with no effect, growing restless and striking out at Cloud with its vicious barbed tentacles. As he dodged the flurry of attacks he struck out at the wildly flailing limbs, severing many of the dark green tentacles and spilling the creature's stinking acidic blood onto the floor of the arena as it screamed in pain. As it recoiled from his attack, Cloud leapt forward and thrust his sword deep into the stomach of the vile creature, twisting it to the side as blood poured out of the wound, before tearing the blade to one side, rending flesh as it moved, cutting vital arteries and veins. As he leapt to safety, the Marlborough gave one final piercing cry as it breathed its last, falling to the ground dead. The hole in the centre of the ring opened up and the dead beast plummeted towards the disposal area below as Cloud waved to the cheering fans.

The doors opened without warning this time and Cloud whirled to face his latest challenge. A great wave of fiends surged forward, and his heart skipped a beat as he recognised them as the fiends that had attacked Cosmo Canyon. Dio's voice returned, confused and worried.

"Cloud, something's not right. That isn't what we had for you. What's going on?"

An alarm began to sound and the entrances to the arena were sealed off, red warning lights suddenly flaring up. The steel doors were jammed open and the fiends were pouring out in droves. Tifa and Raven dove down from the observation platforms as the arena staff led the children to safety, Tifa pulling on her fighting gloves while Raven looked around wildly for a weapon. One of the security staff joined them, passing his pistol to Raven who took aim at the oncoming fiends.

The security guard opened fire with his assault rifle, picking off two of the black wolves that came charging towards him and quickly ducking beneath a leaping third. Cloud felt waves of power surging through him and slammed his sword into the ground, sending a glowing blue energy wave speeding across the arena, cutting through a line of approaching scorpion fiends. Blood began to collect in a pool on the floor as the energy wave tore through the fiends, ignoring their heavy armour plating and leaving over half a dozen of them dead. Another wolf dived headlong towards Tifa but she had learned from her previous battle, dodging to the side and striking the creature with a spinning heel as it passed, sending it crashing to the floor. Tifa planted her boot on its exposed neck and stamped down hard with a sickening crack of breaking bones. She turned to see another wolf leaping towards her but it never got the chance to attack as it dropped from the sky having been blasted in the back of the head by Raven, who whirled on her heels and fired on another scorpion. Her bullet failed to find a weak spot but distracted the creature long enough for Cloud to close the gap and strike it hard in the head with his powerful blade.

Yet more creatures surged from the open doors, overwhelming the poor security guard as they dragged him down to the floor, striking him in the chest with their fatal stingers. With his final breath he threw his rifle over to Raven, who grabbed it and opened fire on the murderous fiends, screaming for revenge as she blew them apart. As she dashed forward in an effort to close the doors, a wolf leapt at her and though she dodged her timing was off and the beast sank its powerful fangs into her leg as she cried out in pain. Tifa leapt to her side and punched the attacker hard in the side of the head, causing it to release its grip on Raven. It reared its head to strike at Tifa, only to find itself without a head as Cloud's sword slashed across its neck with deadly precision. He handed the pink ribbon back to Raven, who wrapped it around the bleeding teeth marks in her leg, feeling the magical protection begin to stem the bleeding and counteract the creature's venom.

The creatures suddenly stopped as the wind whistled through the arena. They began to withdraw, and Cloud looked around to see many more security guards rushing in from every corner of the park, armed to the teeth and firing on the retreating fiends. Cloud looked around wildly. Hojo was here somewhere. He had to be. Fiends lacked the intelligence to break into the Gold Saucer without help. A shiver began to crawl up Cloud's spine.

"Show yourself, Hojo. We know you're here somewhere. Come out and face me." he whispered, lowering his sword as he looked around.

A gunshot rang out in the darkness, striking Cloud in the chest and he staggered, dropping his sword with the shock. A second hit him, lower than the first, striking his stomach and he dropped to the floor in agony as Tifa and Raven ran to his side, screaming hysterically. The guards formed a protective circle around them as Cloud coughed and spluttered, blood seeping from his wounds. His vision began to blur, his hearing faded, he felt cold. The strength left his limbs and he went limp, Tifa clinging on to him, tears streaming down her face as she begged him to hold on. Raven tore strips from her uniform and tied them around his chest in an attempt to stem the bleeding, but to no effect. She screamed for a medic and several came running into the arena, but it was too late. As Cloud began to slip into the abyss of unconsciousness, he heard a twisted whisper from the darkness.

"So much for you, Ex-Soldier."

How long had he been in this endless darkness? Time seemed to have no meaning here, this eternal void, no form or feeling, no ground or sky, no gravity or wind, simple nothingness stretching beyond every horizon. Alone with his thoughts, Cloud continued to drift, wondering to himself. Perhaps it was his time to die. But then he'd been shot before. And much worse beyond. Surely he was tougher than this?

But he realised. Before, when he had been drifting in this void, he had been given a second chance. Sent back to the land of the living. She had given him a second life.

Would she grace him with a third?

He couldn't die now. He would not accept it. Not now, when his plans were finally starting to come together. His life with Tifa, his well earned peace, waking up and not feeling alone. He had so much more to experience, so much left to do with his life. The battle against Hojo, seeing Denzel grow up, enjoying his new family life with Tifa. How could he leave her now? He had spent so long unable to tell her how he felt about her. Now that he had finally found the courage to be with her, he would not give her up so easily.

But what if he hadn't earned one final chance? What if she couldn't send him back this time? Would the others defeat Hojo? Would Tifa ever recover? What about Denzel? Would he be the same if his hero and father figure was taken away from him?

The darkness fell away, leaving only pure white light, brighter than words, blinding him. He became aware that he was now standing, feeling a slight sense of gravity return and the soft sensation of invisible grass beneath his boots. A faint scent of flowers filled the air as his eyes slowly became accustomed to the light. He looked around, the white expanse still empty.

But he was not alone.

She stood there before him, smiling in her own cute way, her bright green eyes piercing his very soul. As beautiful as the moment he had crashed through the roof of her church.

Aerith Gainsborough.

"Hello, Cloud." she said slowly, her voice only just above a whisper.

"Am I dead?" he asked, his voice echoing in the endless expanse.

She shook her head, smiling. "Not even a hello? Where are your manners, Cloud?"

He tried to take a step towards her, but found his legs unwilling to co-operate. "Aerith, am I dead? Tell me."

"I would have thought you would have been pleased to see me." she whispered, tilting her head slightly and smiling more.

"I am. But where am I? Where are we?"

She swept her arm to the side, gesturing towards the empty space around them. "This is my home, Cloud. Sorry if it's a little under furnished right now.". She giggled as he gave her a puzzled look. "The Lifestream, Cloud."

"So I am dead then. This is it. End of the road."

She shook her head. "That depends entirely on you, Cloud. Is there any reason why I should send you back?"

He nodded, thinking of all the many reasons why he wanted more time. He knew there was one that stood above all others, smiling as her face appeared in his mind's eye.

"There's a lot more I have to do. A lot more to experience. People to be with."

"The same is true of all who die, Cloud. Life isn't fair. Death is no different. Sometimes we can't always get what we want."

"But what about my life? Everything I fought for. Am I supposed to just let it all go and accept this?" he said, his voice starting to lower as he grew angry at the thought of this being the end.

"Are you saying the world wouldn't get by without you? A little arrogant, wouldn't you say?"

"What about my family? I fought to protect those I love and you'd take that all away from me now?" he snarled. She lowered her head, breaking their eye contact and turning away from him.

"You mean….her."

Cloud paused. What was that tone in her voice? Jealousy? He nodded slowly, not wanting to aggravate the tension.

"So you love her, then?" she whispered.

"Tifa. Yeah, I love her. You know that. I always did. It just took me so long so say it."

"Do you love me?" she whispered back.

"What?" he asked, stunned by her direct approach.

"Do you love me, Cloud?"

He thought for a moment. She had always had a place in his heart. It would be unfair to lie to her. He nodded slowly, unable to put his feelings into words.

"So which is it? Her or me?" she asked, turning to look him in the eye again.

Cloud froze. He had never expected such a blunt approach. She must know how he felt about all this. Perhaps she simply needed to hear it from him.

"Aerith, you told me to move on. I did. It took time, but I'm happy with Tifa. I'm sorry."

She looked down and he could see that she had finally started to cry, crystal-like tears glistening on her perfect cheeks.

"I never thought you would move on from me." she whispered through the tears. They stood in silence, the emotion too much to bear.

"But I had to."

"Not any more. We could be together here, Cloud. For eternity, just the two of us." she said, looking up at him, her eyes full of tears but shining with hope.

He didn't want to say what had to be said. But it would be cruel to give her hope when there was none.

"It's not just Tifa any more, Aerith. What about my family? Denzel, my friends, my life? What about the world? It's still in trouble, I can't leave it now."

"Don't lie to me, Cloud. Is it me or her?"

He took a deep breath. He had never wanted to break a heart before. He looked into her eyes with a frown, and without a word she understood. She brushed the tears from her face and took a step backwards, stuttering as she whispered.

"So you truly love Tifa, then? If you're willing to give up eternity for her."

He nodded. He knew how he felt. He wanted to be with Tifa. He would give up anything for her. Aerith sobbed as she finally realised that she had lost his heart forever. As she cried into the soft cloth of his Soldier uniform, he held her tight, giving her this one last moment. She looked into his eyes, longing for him to kiss her, like he never had when she had been by his side. But it was not to be. She broke their hold, stepping slowly away from him.

"Aerith, I'm sorry. But this is how it has to be." he said, looking away.

"Well I shall just have to accept it then, won't I?" she whimpered.

"So you're sending me back?"

Aerith nodded slowly, starting to smile again.

"I'm not allowed to keep you here, Cloud. So I'll send you back, one last time. Be careful this time. I won't be able to send you back again. Ever."

Cloud nodded, a lump forming in his throat. Even though he was happy to be returning to life, it was never easy to give up immortality.

"Promise me something, Cloud."

"Anything."

"Live your life to the fullest. With Tifa at your side. Love her like you might have loved me if things had been different. I'll find eternity alone a little easier if I know you're happy. Make her happy every single day and never let her go. Live every moment to the fullest, and maybe I'll feel alive watching you from time to time."

"Well, you can always visit. We're friends, right?"

Aerith smiled, turning to walk away one last time.

"So what's gonna happen now?" he asked, the echo in his voice now gone.

Aerith turned to face him, pursed her lips and blew him a kiss. He felt the warmth of her lips meet his and…

His eyes slowly fluttered open, struggling as the pain returned to his chest. He could feel the warmth of his blood running underneath his shirt from the bullet holes in his chest, cold hands roaming his body trying to stem the bleeding. He forced his eyes open fully to see Tifa knelt by him, her face awash with tears. She caught his eye and gasped, pushing the many doctors out of the way and wrapping her arms around him.

"I thought I'd lost you. I thought you were dead." she stuttered through the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm not going anywhere. Not until I've told you I love you." he whispered.

Her breath caught in her chest. He had finally said it. The words she had waited so long to hear from him. He had come back from the dead to tell her. And there was only one thing to say in return.

"I love you too."

As she held him tight, she could hear a voice whispering to her in her mind.

"Take care of him for me, Tifa. His heart has always belonged to you."

She smiled. She knew that voice. "Don't worry, I will." she thought, knowing that somewhere out there, Aerith could hear her.

"Thank you."


End file.
